When it comes to global warming, are we getting in too deep? Here’s a look at the top 10 U.S. cities at risk from rising sea levels.

By Shiwani Srivastava for MSN City Guides

Global warming might be the current hot topic in the news, but the threat of rising sea levels can often seem distant, uncontrollable and even abstract.  Just how soon can we expect to feel the impact?  And is there really anything we can do about it?

In December, the OECD – a Paris-based international organization that gathers and analyzes economic statistics and social data to benefit the global economy – released a report listing the cities worldwide that are most threatened by rising seas in the next 60 years, measured by population and property assets at risk.  U.S. cities ranked surprisingly high on the list, capturing five of the top 10 spots, with all but one of the top 10 U.S. cities ranking in the top 30 worldwide.

• See a slide show of U.S. cities most at risk

So how did they figure out which cities are most at risk? Researchers looked at the combination of a "1-in-100 year" major flooding event (a commonly accepted risk assessment standard) with a sea rise of 1.6 feet by 2070 (caused by global warming) and calculated the effects. The one-two punch is potentially devastating, especially for several major U.S. cities.

That said, the OECD’s report isn’t meant to be all gloom and doom.  Rather, it is meant to spur cities into preparedness to prevent another situation like Hurricane Katrina, which caused more than 1,800 deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi, and displaced hundreds of thousands more.  In many ways, America and its economy are still feeling the aftershock of this natural disaster.  But re-witnessing Katrina isn’t a sealed fate.  While it could take up to 30 years for cities to set up adequate protection against rising seas, the technology exists to seriously lessen the damage that cities potentially face.