Global sea level will rise more slowly in 2022 than models predict. But there’s no reason to celebrate, according to NASA. The slight deviation from the decades-old trend was due to the climate-cooling effect of La Niña, and we will undoubtedly see faster sea level rise again in the coming years.
Between 2021 and 2022, the world’s oceans absorbed the equivalent of one million Olympic swimming pools, adding 0.11 inches (0.27 centimeters) to the global average sea level. This 0.05 inch (0.17 cm) increase is less than the 0.17 inch (0.44 cm) projected increase that scientists expected last year.
But despite such fluctuations, the 30-year-old satellite measurements show a trend accelerating sea level riseIt is only expected to accelerate. While global sea levels rose by 0.08 inches (0.20 cm) per year in the 1990s, by 2050 three times more water will be added to the global oceans per year.
Scientists attribute the observed slowdown in 2022 to: La Niña climate regime, a cold analogue of El Niño. NASA said in a statement that sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean dropped during the La Niña years, and this change had widespread effects on weather around the world, including precipitation over the oceans. But forecasters expect El Niño warming to return in 2023. with it sea level rise will accelerate again.
Global sea levels have risen by 3.6 inches (9.1 cm) since 1993, according to NASA data. NASA has been monitoring sea surface height since 1992, in collaboration with French partner CNES, launching the first satellite capable of measuring sea level. For the first time, the image from space has allowed scientists to get a detailed, global overview of what’s happening in the world’s ocean.
NASA director Karen St. “We have a clear picture of recent sea-level rise, and we can better predict how much and how fast the oceans will continue to rise because NASA and CNES have compiled decades of ocean observations,” Germain said. Department of Earth Sciences. The office in Washington said in a statement. “By combining this data with measurements from the rest of the NASA fleet, we can also understand why ocean levels are rising.”
Although natural weather fluctuations such as La Niña can affect sea surface height, scientists know that the primary driver for accelerating sea level rise is climate change. human origin. As temperatures rise, ice sheets and glaciers melt faster and more fresh water enters the seas. Additionally, higher temperatures cause seawater to expand, exacerbating sea level rise.
Source: Port Altele
