Water lock station employees observe the water lock in Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, China, Sept. 9, 2009. Shanghai, altitude 10 feet above sea level, is among dozens of great world cities, including London, Miami, New York, New Orleans, Mumbai, Cairo, Amsterdam, and Tokyo, threatened by rising sea levels. Eugene Hoshiko/AP
A street sign for Water Street in lower Manhattan, New York, Sept. 20, 2007. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
A man in scuba diving gear wades through floodwaters in Saint Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, December 3, 2010. Floodwaters rose to 136 centimeters above sea level and covered over fifty percent of St. Mark's Square, Reuters TV recorded. Manuel Silvestri/Reuters
Residences sit along the Chao Phraya River in front of a construction site, in Bangkok, Thailand, March 26, 2012. The Thai capital is among the mega coastal cities projected by the end of this century to lie partially under water as global warming boosts sea levels. Sakchai Lalit/AP
Anusorn Adirekkittikun and his son, Korn, climb on the tricycle he designed and built to move through water in a flooded neighborhood near Chao Phraya river in central Bangkok, Thailand, October 28, 2011. Damir Sagolj/Reuters
Pedestrians look at a line of high-rise buildings and traditional houses, Oct. 21, 2003, in Shanghai. China's largest city, Shanghai, is sinking by 1/2 inch every year, prompting the city's government to mull limits on new skyscrapers. Eugene Hoshiko/AP
A laborer works on patching up cracks on the dome of Mexico City's colonial cathedral on July 27, 1998, after restorers announced that they had leveled the building which had been sinking seriously into the capital's muddy foundations. Reuters
Flood waters from Hurricane Katrina fill the streets near downtown New Orleans on Aug. 30, 2005 in New Orleans. Much of the city lies below sea level. David J. Phillip/AP
In lower Manhattan on the edge of the financial district, pedestrians cross Water Street, Sept. 20, 2007. This area would flood in a major storm. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Mario Cannariato has worked for the subway system for 27 years. More than 14 million gallons of water a day are pumped out of the subway due to underground streams threatening the tracks. This is one of the 247 pumping stations, in New York, Sept. 20, 2007. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
People jog under the FDR East River Drive in New York on July 24, 2008. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Café chairs and tables are submerged in high water in St. Mark's Square after the water level reached a peak of 4.70 feet, the highest level of 2009, in Venice, Italy, Dec. 23, 2009. The phenomenon of high water, which floods the Venice lagoon, occurs mainly between autumn and spring when tides are reinforced by seasonal winds. Luigi Costantini/AP
A multibillion-dollar flood-prevention system will be put in place starting next year, a decade after the project began.
Venetians have been coping with tidal flooding, or “acqua alta,” for centuries. A recent study suggests the problem may be worsening faster than previously believed.
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