WASHINGTON DC – A new NASA study indicates that the sea level along U.S. coastlines could rise more than a foot by the year 2050, at the high end of previous estimates, a development with potentially serious consequences.
NASA’s Sea Level Change Team analyzed nearly three decades of satellite observations before reaching this conclusion.
While certain natural phenomena can influence sea levels—including the orbit of the moon, which influences tide levels, and the weather patterns of El Niño and La Niña—climate change has been and will continue to be the major contributor. A warming planet is causing glaciers to melt, raising sea levels worldwide. But an increasingly hot Earth influences sea levels in a more obscure way. Read on to find out more.
- Projected Sea Level Rise By Region
“Global sea level has been rising for decades in response to a warming climate, and multiple lines of evidence indicate the rise is accelerating,” said NASA in a news release. “The new findings support the higher-range scenarios outlined in an interagency report released in February 2022.” That report was developed by multiple agencies including NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Geological Survey. It projected significant sea level rise by region, including:
- 10 to 14 inches of rise on average for the East Coast
- 14 to 18 inches for the Gulf Coast
- 4 to 8 inches for the West Coast
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