Sea level rises rapidly in the next 30 years; more than in the whole 20th century

More than half a dozen U.S. agencies in combination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a new update on projections of sea-level rise and the findings indicate that the rise continues dramatically and rapidly. By 2050, sea level would rise more than it did during the entire 20th century.

The detailed report highlights the sea-level increase, by decade, over the next 100 years and beyond, using a combination of tidal measurements and satellite observations as well as analyses from the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. These projections include information on tides, wind, and extreme storm events that affect currents and coastal flood risk and are an update of the U.S. federal report that came out in 2017.

For example, in South Florida, as along other cities on the East and West coasts, King Tides occur several times a year and continue to worsen. These are associated with the lunar phase and the moon's orbit around the earth, but with higher sea levels the water creates more flooding, putting more at risk. The water that comes out from the sewer is a mixture between saltwater and dirty waters, with fecal residues.

The publication explains that the increase would not occur even-handedly on all coasts of the world. Specifically, some coastal areas of the United States, like large stretches of Texas’s Gulf Coast, could have an increase of more than 12 inches by 2050.

The higher the sea level, the more the impacts of flooding or storm surges will be seen beyond the coast. By 2050, destructive floods are expected to occur 10 times more frequently than they do now. Local factors, such as overpopulation or over-construction could amplify these floods.

These ongoing projections help assess how quickly impacts are occurring. With each publication, we know more about any other factors that can affect us and how much impact it will have beyond the coast. Satellites have been our best allies to track the changes that occur in the world, in many cases in real-time. More technology on our satellites will help us monitor how sea levels continue to rise.

The key is to reduce greenhouse gases right now. It is important to understand that all the gases that we have released into the atmosphere will continue to affect our planet for years to come. Even if we were to magically stop emitting heat-trapping gases now, it would take time for our planet to respond. Therefore many scientists support that there must be ways to trap some of these gases, such as carbon dioxide.

Greenhouse gas emissions play a crucial role in sea-level rise. With the gases emitted so far, it is likely that by 2100 sea level will rise 24 inches in many coastal areas with high populations.

If we do not drastically reduce our emissions soon projections indicate that there would be a further increase of between 1.5 to 5 feet. This would put us on a total of an increase of up to 7 feet by the end of this century.