Sea level rise in the past two decades has accelerated faster than previously thought in a sign of climate change threatening coasts from Florida to Bangladesh, a new study has found.
The study, published in Nature, reassessed records from more than 600 tidal gauges.
It found that readings from 1901-1990 had overestimated the rise in sea levels. But the revised figures also show acceleration in sea level rise since then is greater than so far assumed.
The report's authors say the earlier readings were incomplete or skewed by local factors such as subsidence.
The new analysis "suggests that the acceleration in the past two decades is 25 per cent higher than previously thought," says lead author Carling Hay of Harvard University.
According to the study, sea level rise, caused by factors including a thaw of glaciers, averaged about 1.2 millimetres a year from 1901-1990 -- less than past estimates -- and leapt to 3 millimetres a year in the past two decades, apparently linked to a quickening thaw of ice.
No comments:
Post a Comment