Local councils across the country are desperate to start looking over data on a new website that predicts sea level rise in thousands of spots around New Zealand.
But they've been forced to wait. Interest in the website has been so intense since Newshub broke the story on Sunday night, that it's been crashed most of the day.
The beachfront home is a dream for some, but for others it can quickly turn into a nightmare.
"A huge wave came through the house, and my husband said, okay, we need to get out," said Ōwhiro Bay resident Maggie Loveday.
Ōwhiro Bay in Wellington is frequently battered by sea swells and Loveday's always ready to get her family to safety.
"We've just set some money aside and I would take the kids to an Airbnb somewhere away from the coast."
Kiwi researchers have found our sea levels are rising much faster than anyone ever thought. It's because two tectonic plates meet in the middle of Aotearoa and push parts of the coast down.
For many areas the global average rise of 30cm by 2060 is coming in only 10 or 20 years. In fact, in some places around Aotearoa, it's happening at double and even triple the global rate.
"The reality is we have squandered some of the time that the scientists gave us to address the issues," Rod Carr, from the Climate Change Commission, said.
But now, Kiwis can find out if the worst-affected places include your own neighbourhood. This website shows sea-level rise data for every 2 kilometres along New Zealand's coastline.
The global average of sea-level rise is 3mm per year, so if you see negative 3 mm in your neighbourhood, it's bad news because that means the coast is sinking and the sea levels around you are rising twice as fast as the rest of the world.
"We've interacted with many councils across Aotearoa and they're all wanting the data. They all want to incorporate it into their medium and long term planning right now," said climate scientist Richard Levy.
While the government bears some responsibility for paying the cost of climate change, the Prime Minister said councils also have to cough up the cash.
"That's why we're doing work at the moment with local government, and private insurers around how do we ensure the cost burden is falling in the appropriate place," Jacinda Ardern said on Monday morning.
Hamish McDouall of Local Government New Zealand said every level of government needs to be involved.
"I'm not trying to wash council's responsibilities to do things around climate change, but it's a national problem and we should all pitch in together," he said.
Meanwhile, National's Christopher Luxon on Monday gave his pre-Budget speech laying out National's economic values. But climate change wasn't even mentioned.
"Those are complex issues they need to be worked through… We'll have more to say about climate change and climate adaptation throughout the year."
The experts are much clearer.
"We can no longer point the finger at someone else, somewhere else... There's time to act but the time for action is now," said Carr.
The Government's emission reduction plan will be delivered later this month, which'll have our nation's coastline at its mercy.
