Early European possessions in North America included Spanish Florida, Spanish New Mexico, the English colonies of Virginia (with its North Atlantic offshoot, Bermuda) and New England, the French colonies of Acadia and Canada, the Swedish colony of New Sweden, and the Dutch New Netherland.ther European nations soon disputed the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas. England and France attempted to plant colonies in the Americas in the 16th century, but these failed. England and France succeeded in establishing permanent colonies in the following century, along with the Dutch Republic.
If all of the Earth's ice sheets and glaciers were to melt, sea level could be up to 265 feet (80 meters) above current mean sea level.
What's more, scientists expect regional variations in sea-level rise to continue. So, for example, a two-foot (61.0-centimeter) rise in global sea level is likely to produce a relative sea-level rise of approximately 2.9 feet (88.4 centimeters) at Hampton Roads, the metropolitan area that includes Virginia Beach.