Just how safe from the rising sea level are our beach houses?

Many owners of baches, cribs and beach houses around New Zealand’s coast will find their homes uninsurable within 20 years.

That’s the grim reality of the rising sea level caused by climate change – it’s not 100 years out, or even 50. It’s a mere two decades.

Researcher Belinda Storey of Climate Sigma says while there are many unknowns in determining the effects of climate change, scientists are “very confident” that the sea level around the country will be up by a minimum 10cm in 20 years. NIWA predicts double that sea-level rise.