A new analysis by the ISA shows that global sea levels are set to rise faster and by a larger amount than expected through 2024, largely due to warmer water temperatures.
The study found that the data shows that sea levels rose at a rate of .23 inches last year, faster than the expected .17 inches.
“Every year is a little different from the last, but what is clear is that the seas are rising and the rate of rise is accelerating,” Josh Willis, a sea level researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a news release.
The study said that about two-thirds of historical sea level rise is the result of water flowing from land into the oceans as ice sheets and glaciers melt, while the third is due to thermal expansion.
NASA said that the increase in Earth’s temperature is mainly due to the accumulation of heat-absorbing greenhouse gases, and 90 percent of this absorbed heat is absorbed by the oceans. When this heat is absorbed, the ocean temperature rises and the water expands.
