NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY — A new study shows that sea level is rising at a speed that is faster than the previous 27 centuries.
Sea level rose at a rate of 1.4 millimeters per year between 1900 and 2000 while the current rate is 3.4 millimeters per year, according to data provided by NASA.
The study, led by Robert Kopp, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Rutgers University, shows that although it is impossible to slow the rate of sea level rise to what it was in the 20th century, a low carbon dioxide emissions scenario would make it more likely than a high carbon dioxide emission scenario.
The study, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also points out that the major factor in future sea level rises is the melting of the huge ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.
The study was based on earlier sea level rises at 24 locations around the world, as well as recent measurements from 66 global tide gauges.