Municipalities in Sweden are actively working to prepare for the harsh realities of climate change, Swedish Television (SVT) reported on Monday.

"The consequences of climate change are very concrete for us. They do not exist in the distant future, it is already happening now. We are continually affected by high sea levels and we see that this is happening more and more often", Anna Moller, an expert at Vellinge Municipality, told SVT.

Vellinge municipality in Skane, south of Sweden, is predicted to face the highest sea level rise in Sweden, provided that greenhouse gas emissions do not decrease. According to calculations made by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, the sea level in Skanor, which is located in Vellinge municipality, may rise 78 cm by 2100.

The local authorities plan to prepare for this eventuality by building a 21-km long embankment to protect buildings and people from flooding. Though Vellinge will be the worst affected, they are by no means the only municipality that is preparing for rising sea levels.

"Almost all municipalities that are located on a river, a lake or a sea in Sweden are actively working on these issues. There is much greater awareness today than there was just ten years ago", Emma Bonnevier from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions told SVT.