WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Global sea level rose faster than expected in 2024, mostly because of ocean water expanding as it warms, or thermal expansion, according to a NASA-led study.
Last year's rate of rise was 0.23 inches per year, compared to the expected rate of 0.17 inches per year.
'The rise we saw in 2024 was higher than we expected,' said Josh Willis, a sea level researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. 'Every year is a little bit different, but what's clear is that the ocean continues to rise, and the rate of rise is getting faster and faster.'
Last year's increase was due to an unusual amount of ocean warming, combined with meltwater from land-based ice such as glaciers.
In recent years, about two-thirds of sea level rise was from the addition of water from land into the ocean by melting ice sheets and glaciers. About a third came from thermal expansion of seawater. But in 2024, those contributions flipped, with two-thirds of sea level rise coming from thermal expansion.
'With 2024 as the warmest year on record, Earth's expanding oceans are following suit, reaching their highest levels in three decades,' said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, head of physical oceanography programs and the Integrated Earth System Observatory at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Since the satellite record of ocean height began in 1993, the rate of annual sea level rise has more than doubled. In total, global sea level has gone up by 4 inches since 1993, the study says.
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