DoomsdaysCWA More Troubling Picture of Sea Level Rise Is Coming into View
Scientists have uncovered a “blind spot” in the research on rising seas, revealing that tens of millions of people thought safe from coastal flooding are at risk of inundation. Across much of the world, sea levels are higher than previously assumed and land is sinking faster.
By Fred Pearce • April 9, 2026
Excerpt: "The other new study focused on the world’s #RiverDeltas. It has long been known that many #deltas are sinking under the influence of #Groundwater pumping. But as Robert Nicholls, climate adaptation researcher at the University of East Anglia, notes, 'There have been lots of different estimates.' Data were inconsistent and based on crude, delta-wide estimates. 'Now at last we have a consistent data set, with high spatial resolution.'
"That data comes from Leonard Ohenhen, an earth system scientist at the University of California, Irvine, who used satellite-mounted radar to produce 3D maps of subsidence on 40 of the world’s biggest and most populous river deltas. He has found that subsidence afflicts more than half those deltas. Most startlingly, in 18 cases subsidence rates exceed those of #RisingTides — hence, more than doubling the effective yearly rise in local sea levels, and in some cases multiplying it tenfold.
"This again puts tens of millions of people once thought safe from rising tides this century in imminent harm’s way, including those living on the deltas of the #Nile in #Egypt, the #Mekong in #Vietnam, the #Mahanadi in #India, and the #YellowRiver in #China. If the current rate of subsidence persists, these areas will be flooded much sooner than thought.
"Researchers say many deltas and other low-lying coastal areas not included in the two studies are at greater risk than believed and urgently require detailed investigation of both actual sea levels and the rate of land subsidence."
Read more:
https://e360.yale.edu/features/sea-level-rise-land-subsidence
#SeaLevelRise #Subsidience #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #SeaLevels #RiverDeltas #GroundwaterExtraction #BigWater
A More Troubling Picture of Sea Level Rise Is Coming into View
Scientists have uncovered a "blind spot" in the research on rising seas, revealing that tens of millions of people thought safe from coastal flooding are at risk of inundation. Across much of the world, sea levels are higher than previously assumed and land is sinking faster.
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