Sea Level Rise is Accelerating: New Method to Detect Increase

As our climate changes, it's more important than ever to track the rates of sea level rise. Now, scientists have created a new method to find out how sea levels might rise throughout the 21^st century.

In order to better understand the future of sea level rise and see whether or not it's accelerating, the researchers turned to the past. They analyzed data from 10 long-term sea level monitoring stations located around the world. More specifically, they looked into the future to identify the timing at which sea level accelerations might first be recognized in a significant way.

It turns out that the most important approach to the earliest possible detection of sea level rise acceleration lies in improved understanding of interannual to multidecadal variability in sea level records. More specifically, the scientists found that by 2020 to 2030, we could have some statistical certainty of what the sea level rise situation will look like at the end of the century.

"As cities, including London, continue to plan for long-term solutions to sea level rise, we will be in a position to better predict the long-term situation for the UK capital and other coastal areas across the planet," said Ivan Haigh, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Scientists should continue to update the analysis every five to 10 years, creating more certainty in long-term planning--and helping develop solutions for a changing planet."

The findings reveal the importance of monitoring sea level rise in order to make more accurate predictions for the future. Not only that, but the researchers found that this rise is indeed accelerating. More specifically, it shows how much time that researchers will have to plan in order to help curtail the effects of this sea level rise.

"By developing a novel method that realistically approximates future sea level rise, we have been able to add new insight to the debate and show that there is substantial evidence for a significant recent acceleration in the sea level rise on a global and regional level," said Eelco Rohling, one of the researchers, in a news release. "However, due to the large 'noise' signals at some local coastal sites, it won't be until later this decade or early next decade before the accelerations in sea level are detected at these individual tide gauge sites."

The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.