As climate change continues to affect our planet, the sea level rise is increasing at a worrying rate.
The satellite observations by NASA reveal that the sea level has risen by 0.11 inches from 2021 to 2022, which is equal to adding water from a million Olympic-sized swimming pools to the ocean every day for a year. The rise is being observed on coasts worldwide, and since 1993, the average global sea level has increased by 3.6 inches.
The annual rate of rise, which measures how quickly the sea level rise is happening, has also increased from 0.08 inches per year in 1993 to 0.17 inches in 2022. The current analysis estimates that the projected rate of sea level rise will hit 0.26 inches by 2050.
“We have this clear view of recent sea level rise – and can better project how much and how quickly the oceans will continue to rise – because NASA and Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) have gathered decades of ocean observations. By combining that data with measurements from the rest of the NASA fleet, we can also understand why the ocean is rising,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division.
While the rise in sea level was high in 2022, it was still less than expected due to a mild La Niña. Researchers, however, maintain that despite natural influences like La Niña, sea levels continue to rise because of human-caused climate change driven by the excess amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide that society pumps into the atmosphere.
With climate change melting the ice caps and glaciers retreating faster, more and more water is projected to be added to the oceans.
“The 30-year satellite record allows us to see through the shorter-term shifts that happen naturally in the ocean and helps us identify the trends that tell us where sea level is headed,” added JPL’s Ben Hamlington, a sea level researcher.
It is crucial to take action and reduce our carbon footprint to limit the impact of climate change on our planet and prevent further sea level rise.