Last Update: 04/05/2026 at 2:50 PM EST
Rising Seas Expand Coastal Risk
Coverage from Los Angeles Times, NPR, and others
Articles
11
Latest Article
03/19
Active Days
844
Executive Summary
Sea level rise is accelerating worldwide, raising flood, erosion and saltwater risks and forcing updates to coastal planning as baselines prove too low.
- Global mean sea level has risen about 23 cm since 1900 and reached a record high in 2024
- The rise has accelerated from 1.7 mm per year in the 20th century to about 3.7 mm per year recently
- Since around 2000, glacier melt and ice sheet loss have become the dominant driver over thermal expansion
- Projected rise by 2100 ranges from about 0.28 m to 1.02 m depending on emissions
- Low-likelihood rapid Antarctic or Greenland ice sheet collapse could push sea level much higher by 2150
- Most European coasts face relative sea level rise, while northern Baltic Sea and parts of northern Norway show local fall from land uplift
- A Nature study says about 90 percent of coastal assessments underestimate water heights by around 30 cm on average
Quick Facts
- What: Rising seas are accelerating and risk estimates are being revised
- Where: Global coasts, especially Europe and the Global South
- Why: Higher seas increase flooding, erosion, saltwater intrusion, and planning risk
- Who: Climate scientists, NOAA, and coastal planners
- When: Observations since 1900 with projections to 2100
Coverage Timeline: 844 Days
Featured Article
Researchers report higher sea level estimates worldwide, especially in the Indo-Pacific and global south, based on a synthesis of 385 studies through 2025.
Additional Articles
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Researchers reveal in 2024 that geoid based sea level estimates understate true heights, affecting coastal planning in California and other regions.
Researchers analyze 385 sea level studies to show current measurements increase projected exposure worldwide.
Researchers publish on March 4 that sea level baselines bias coastal flood risk in Global South and Indo-Pacific.
Researchers revise coastal baselines and reveal higher sea level rise exposure for global coastal populations in a recent study.
Researchers in Nature report that revised coastal sea level measurements show higher risks and greater populations exposed to future flooding.
Nature study covering 2009-2025 shows global coastline data revisions raise sea level estimates worldwide.
Researchers reveal revised coastal baselines in a Nature study, increasing global inundation risk and prompting adaptation funding considerations.
Scientists report accelerating global sea level rise with regional coastal risk projections to 2100.
NOAA and partner scientists report in the 2020s that accelerating global sea level rise, increasingly driven by ice loss, is heightening uneven coastal flooding and infrastructure risks worldwide, particularly along United States coastlines.
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A peer-reviewed synthesis of 385 sea-level studies argues most coastal risk estimates rely on models rather than measurements, altering reported exposure levels globally.