West Coast May be at Risk of Sea-Level Rise Due to Misjudged Uplift Rates

The West Coast may be in danger of sea level rise. Researchers have found that the uplift rates across the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and northern Mexico have been overestimated by an average of more than 40 percent.

"Factors other than tectonics contribute to local sea-level change, and one important, yet often overlooked, contribution is the earth-ocean response to the changing distribution of surface loads of ice and water, often referred to as...glacial isostatic adjustment," write Alexander Simms, one of the researchers, and his colleagues in a research paper. "Neglect of this effect, particularly along coastal sections at variable distances from the former ice sheets, such as the eastern Pacific coast from northern Mexico to the U.S.-Canada border, introduces large errors in uplift estimates."

The new research actually reveals that the lower uplift rates may mean that the shorelines of the West Coast are rising at a slower rate than previously thought. This could have major implications for coastal management, including earthquake hazards and the potential impact of seal-level rise.

The findings show that it's important to take coastal uplift into account when it comes to sea-level rise. Melting glaciers, spurred by climate change, are dumping more and more water into the ocean. This will make understanding coastal uplift important when it comes to predicting how the West Coast might be impacted by this rise in ocean levels.

The findings are published in the journal GSA Bulletin.

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