Landscape architect Kate Orff just won $625,000 to save cities from rising sea levels. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States) says in its recent report that by 2100, there is a 90% chance that global mean sea levels will rise anywhere from eight inches to 6.6 feet, bad news for a highly urban civilization, living along the water. Rising sea level and coastal flooding are a danger to the surrounding biodiversity as well. .

Kate Orff, founder of the urban design firm Scape Studio, won the 2017 MacArthur fellowship , also known as the "genius grant." 

A look at her plans to save cities from rising sea levels here. Seen above are renderings of her plans for the Living Breakwaters project in Staten Island, New York, which will have 4,000 feet of storm surge-fighting sea walls that double as oyster reefs and fish habitat.