The Guardian view on rising sea levels: adaptation has never been more urgent | Editorial

Around the world, about 230 million people live within 1 metre above the current sea level.

In England , a 1-metre rise would see large parts of the Fens and Humberside below sea level and thus underwater unless coastal defences can somehow protect them.

Visions of melting ice caps and flooded coastal cities induce fear and helplessness.

But people will adapt to sea level rises in the future as they have in the past.