Sea Levels Rise by 'Unexpected' Amount in 2024: NASA

On its website, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration explained that last year's increase "was due to an unusual amount of ocean warming, combined with meltwater from land-based ice such as glaciers."

According to the analysis led by NASA, which monitors rising water levels using satellite imagery, the world's seas rose by 0.59 centimeters in 2024, well above the 0.43 centimeters predicted by scientists.

"Every year is a little bit different, but what's clear is that the ocean continues to rise, and the rate of rise is getting faster and faster," said NASA researcher Josh Willis.

Rising sea levels are among the consequences of human-induced climate change, and oceans have risen in line with the increase in the Earth's average surface temperature.

Over a recent three-decade period, from 1993 to 2023, average sea levels around the globe have risen by some 10 centimeters in total, according to NASA.

The phenomenon is caused primarily by two factors: the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps, which increases the flow of freshwater into oceans; and the expansion of sea water due to heat, a process known as thermal expansion.

In recent years, the observed rise in sea levels has been mainly caused by the first factor and less by the second, according to NASA.

"But in 2024, those contributions flipped, with two-thirds of sea level rise coming from thermal expansion," the agency said.

The year 2024 was the warmest on record since such recordkeeping began in 1850.

Source: Reuters