Global sea level jumped due to El Nino and climate change: NASA

Washington: Global average sea level rose by about 0.3 inches (0.76 centimeters) from 2022 to 2023 nearly four times the increase of the previous y...

Washington: Global average sea level rose by about 0.3 inches (0.76 centimeters) from 2022 to 2023 -- nearly four times the increase of the previous year -- NASA said Thursday, attributing the "significant jump" to a strong El Nino and a warming climate.

The NASA-led analysis is based on more than 30 years of satellite observations, with the initial satellite launching in 1992 and the latest in 2020.

Overall, sea levels have risen by around four inches since 1993. The rate of increase has also accelerated, more than doubling from 0.07 inches per year in 1993, to the current rate of 0.17 inches per year.

"Current rates of acceleration mean that we are on track to add another 20 centimeters of global mean sea level by 2050," said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, director for the NASA sea level change team and the ocean physics program in Washington.

That would be double the amount of change in the next three decades compared to the previous century, she said, creating a future where flooding is far more frequent and catastrophic than today.