NASA and other US government agencies project that the rise in ocean height over the next 30 years could equal the total rise seen in the last 100 years.
Coastal flooding will increase significantly over the next 30 years due to sea level rise, according to a new report from an interagency task force on sea level rise that includes NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). and other federal agencies.
Entitled Global and Regional Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States, the February 15 report concludes that sea levels along US coasts will rise between 10 and 12 inches (25 to 30 centimeters) on average above current levels by 2050.
The report, an update of a 2017 report, forecasts sea level through the year 2150 and, for the first time, offers short-term projections for the next 30 years. These reports are used to inform your plans on how to anticipate and deal with the effects of sea level rise.
“This report supports previous studies and confirms what we have known for a long time: sea levels continue to rise at an alarming rate, endangering communities around the world. The science is indisputable and urgent action is required to mitigate a climate crisis that is already underway,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.
The working group developed its near-term sea level rise projections based on a better understanding of how processes that contribute to sea level rise — such as melting glaciers and ice sheets, as well as the complex interactions between the ocean, land, and ice– at ocean height.
“That understanding has really advanced since the 2017 report, which gave us more certainty about how much sea level will rise in the coming decades,” said Ben Hamlington, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. and one of the main authors of the update.
