Climate Change Effects: Study Finds Increased Rate of Sea Level Rise in US Southeast, Gulf Coast

A new study found that sea level rise around the Southeast and Gulf Coast has increased in the last decade
The researchers observed an increase of roughly 0.4 inches in yearly sea level rise in the areas since 2010
A separate study suggests that recent hurricanes were made stronger by faster-rising ocean levels

A new study discovered that rising sea levels around the United States Southeast and Gulf Coast are rising at an unprecedented speed, much faster than a decade ago.

The research, published in Nature Communications, was led by a team from Tulane University. They found that the rates of sea level rise have increased by roughly 0.4 inches per year around Gulf states and in the Southeast since 2010.

Increased Rate of Sea Level Rise

The study compared a mix of field and satellite measurement data from 1900 to 2021, and the team noticed record rates of sea level rise in the last 12 years. According to Gizmodo, the researchers are considering this increased rate as "unprecedented in at least 120 years," as per Gizmodo.

The Environmental Protection Agency noted that a little under half an inch of sea level rise is commonly seen as small. However, it argued that the average sea level has risen by roughly 0.14 inches yearly since the early 1990s.

Furthermore, officials noted that the accelerated rise encompasses the Gulf of Mexico up to Cape Hatteras, found in North Carolina. They also recorded higher-than-average rates of sea level rise in the Caribbean.

The study team also examined different factors that could have affected ice-mass loss and air pressure in the region. However, they could not connect the sea level rise detected in the Gulf and Southeast to these factors, which led them to believe that the situation is a result of human-caused climate change along with natural variability in the ocean.

The Effects of Climate Change

Researchers warned that the situation is further proof of the "urgency of the climate crisis for the Gulf region" and have called for a major, sustainable effort to address the issue immediately. An assistant professor of Tulane's Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering, Noah Hendricks, said that they systematically investigated different causes for such a situation but could not explain the increased sea level rise, according to UPI.

The team found that varying wind patterns and continuous warming were responsible for expanding the circulating ocean system, which they call the Subtropical Gyre, since 2010. Researchers argued that as gyres expand, they take up more space, which results in a rise in sea level.

The study concludes that the increased sea level rise is a temporary phenomenon and believes that numbers could return to normal in the future. However, Tulane Geology Professor Torbjorn Tornqvist warned against relaxing because the high rates have placed more stress on vulnerable coastlines, especially Louisiana and Texas.

One study suggests that the recent devastating hurricanes that affected Americans, including Michael in 2018 and Ian last year, got far stronger than they should have been due to faster-rising ocean levels, said the Washington Post.