Sea Level Rise Over the Next 30 Years Will Match That of the Past 100 Years [Reading Science]

Analysis Results Announced Through Joint Report by NASA and NOAA

▲Concrete seawalls to prevent sea level rise can be easily seen on the Funafuti beach in Tuvalu.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] It is forecasted that sea level rise due to climate change will accelerate over the next 30 years, causing a sharp increase in flooding in coastal areas worldwide.

On the 18th (local time), the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and others released a joint report with this content. According to the report, the sea level in the United States is expected to rise by an average of 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm) by 2050. This rise is equivalent to the amount observed over the past 100 years, indicating that the rate of sea level rise will be much faster than before.

The report also projected that the intensity and frequency of floods occurring in coastal areas will increase sharply due to sea level rise. Earlier, a research team from the University of Hawaii released a report in July last year predicting that tidal flooding in U.S. coastal areas would increase sharply by the mid-2030s. In 2019, there were about 600 cases of tidal flooding in U.S. coastal areas. They also pointed out that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, accelerating global warming, sea levels could rise faster than currently predicted.

Agencies involved in preparing this report, including NASA and NOAA, formed a task force to devise a methodology that considers how much melting of glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctic, ice in high mountain areas, and the complex interactions among ocean, land, and ice contribute to sea level rise, enabling predictions of sea level rise rates in the relatively near future. In particular, NASA's Sea Level Change Team developed an online mapping tool that allows users to view the latest sea level rise projections by region across the United States.

A NASA official explained, "By combining global sea level rise scenarios, NOAA's maximum water level projections, and geological survey research results, we can obtain reliable future projections of what may happen to U.S. coastal areas and economic infrastructure within the next 20 to 30 years or up to 100 years."