sea level

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Here's How Many Buildings Are Threatened by Rising Seas

And that's just in the Global South

(Newser) - That rising seas could threaten some coastal buildings is no surprise—but just how many may startle you. A sweeping new study that looks specifically at the Global South—so along the coasts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America—warns that tens of millions of buildings...

First 5 Houses Fell Into the Sea, Then Another

All in one day, as offshore hurricanes bring furious waves to the eroding Outer Banks in North Carolina

(Newser) - Six unoccupied houses along North Carolina's Outer Banks have collapsed into the ocean as hurricanes Humberto and Imelda rumble in the Atlantic, the latest private beachfront structures to fall as sea levels rise due to global warming, per the AP . Five of the homes, once propped on high stilts,...

Settlement Found Under the Sea Is 'Like a Time Capsule'

Archaeologists plumb Denmark's Bay of Aarhus to find Stone Age artifacts, submerged under rising seas

(Newser) - Below the dark blue waters of Denmark's Bay of Aarhus, archaeologists are searching for coastal settlements swallowed by rising sea levels more than 8,500 years ago. And this summer, divers descended about 26 feet below the waves close to Aarhus and collected evidence of a Stone Age settlement...

An Island Fights to Stay Afloat 20 Years After Katrina

Federal funding cuts threaten urgent erosion fixes, recovery efforts on Alabama island

(Newser) - Two decades after Hurricane Katrina, Alabama's Dauphin Island is facing a stark reality: It's literally washing away. The 14-mile barrier island , which took a massive hit during Katrina in 2005—losing 1.5 miles of its west end and more than 300 homes—has continued to erode,...

Climate Change Is Making 'Coastal Squeeze' Worse

Seaside homeowners erecting coastal 'armor' (i.e., barrier walls) may be hastening beaches' demise

(Newser) - It may seem to be common sense if you own beachfront property to protect it by building sturdy barriers between your abode and the water, especially as sea levels continue to rise. However, this measure of self-defense is actually contributing to the demise of America's shorelines, because as sea...

This Tiny Island Has a 'Golden Passport' Waiting for You

Pacific isle of Nauru offers citizenship, if you can pay the $105K minimum they'll use to fight climate crisis

(Newser) - Nearly 12,500 people live on the Micronesian island of Nauru, the world's third smallest nation, but thanks to global warming, those folks need to move to higher ground—and they're hoping a new "golden passport" program convincing foreigners to obtain citizenship there will help. Interested parties...

In Latest Climate Report, a 'Warning to Humanity'

Earth hit threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius over an entire year, with hottest January on record

(Newser) - World leaders walked away from the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference with the aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. We've now hit that threshold over a yearlong period, European climate monitors announced Thursday. February...

Growing Threat to Sea Levels: 'Zombie Ice'
Growing Threat to Sea Levels:
'Zombie Ice'
new study
Aug 29, 2022 11:12 AM CDT

Growing Threat to Sea Levels: 'Zombie Ice'

Melting Greenland ice sheet expected to lose 3% of its mass, no matter what

(Newser) - "Zombie ice" from the massive Greenland ice sheet will eventually raise the global sea level by at least 10 inches on its own, according to a study released Monday. Zombie (aka doomed) ice is ice that's still attached to thicker areas of ice but is no longer getting...

'Make No Mistake: Sea Level Rise Is Upon Us'

NOAA releases report detailing the acceleration

(Newser) - America's coastline will see sea levels rise in the next 30 years by as much as they did in the entire 20th century, with major Eastern cities hit regularly with costly floods even on sunny days, a government report warns. Brace yourself for some jarring numbers, which come compliments...

Another SE Asian Nation May Be Moving Its Capital

Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is considering such a switch to provide relief to overcrowded Bangkok

(Newser) - Bangkok is beset by a slew of issues tied to overcrowding, including pollution, traffic congestion, and even sea level rise. That's led Thailand's prime minister to consider a drastic solution: moving the capital elsewhere. The two options that seem the most feasible in Prayut Chan-o-cha's mind, per...

Over 3 Days, 29B Tons of Ice Melted Here

Greenland is experiencing near-record melting of surface ice

(Newser) - Forget about ice skating in Greenland: The island nation's surface ice is melting at a nearly record rate as Europe's heat wave moves into the Arctic, CNN reports. And by melting, we mean 11 billion tons on Thursday alone; 11 billion tons on Wednesday, per the CBC ; and...

Greenland Villagers Flee as Giant Iceberg Approaches

The giant hunk of ice could cause flooding as it approaches the town of Innaarsuit

(Newser) - A huge iceberg heading for a tiny Greenland town has sent villagers fleeing. Per Newsweek , the berg is so big it found itself lodged on the sea floor just beside the town of Innaarsuit, where the around 170 residents fear flooding could occur as chunks fall into the sea. The...

Giant Antarctic Ice 'Cork' Is Deteriorating

Scientists prepping for $27.5M study of Thwaites Glacier, how sea level rise will be affected

(Newser) - An Antarctic glacier is losing so much ice that it contributed to about 4% of the planet's total sea level rise in recent years—and scientists are now concerned this rapid melting could remove one of the few "corks" keeping the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at bay. That'...

Rise in Sea Levels Turning Coastland Into 'Ghost Forests'

'It's dramatic and it's changing faster than it has before in human history'

(Newser) - They're called "ghost forests"—dead trees along vast swaths of coastline invaded by rising seas. The process has occurred naturally for thousands of years, but it has accelerated in recent decades as polar ice melts and raises sea levels, scientists say, pushing salt water farther inland and...

Ancient Rome's Concrete Had Super Ingredient: Seawater

Seawalls are actually stronger today than when they were built

(Newser) - What's so special about ancient Rome's concrete? Well, it just might be "the most durable building material in human history," as one engineer puts it, per the Washington Post . A new study in American Mineralogist sheds further light onto why: Romans mixed a specific volcanic ash...

Alaskan Villagers Decide to Move Village as Sea Rises

Shishmaref is slowly slipping away

(Newser) - In what was far from an easy decision, residents of a small island village in Alaska voted this week to relocate their home to the mainland, the Guardian reports. The reason? Rising sea levels have been eroding the village of Shishmaref for decades. "The land is going away,"...

Study Shows Clouds Are Bad News for Greenland Ice Sheet

'This is something we have to get right if we want to predict the future'

(Newser) - There's a literal cloud hanging over the rapidly melting Greenland ice sheet. That's because a new study published Tuesday in Nature Communications reveals exactly how clouds are exacerbating the problem. Cloud cover over the ice sheet causes 56 billion tons of meltwater runoff every year, up to a...

Why the World Should Be Worried About Bangladesh
Why the World Should Be Worried About Bangladesh
in case you missed it
Mar 30, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Why the World Should Be Worried About Bangladesh

Poor nation will be amongst those hardest hit by climate change

(Newser) - Bangladesh only produces 0.3% of the world's greenhouse gases. But few nations are poised to suffer more as sea levels rise due to climate change, the New York Times points out, in an in-depth piece on the nation's plight. The country is extremely flat, low, prone to...

Big Find Under Greenland's Snow: 100B Tons of Water

Snow insulates it, keeping it liquid year-round, say researchers

(Newser) - As far as discoveries go, this one is literally huge: An aquifer holding more than 100 billion tons of water that covers an area larger than West Virginia has been discovered beneath Greenland's snow-covered ice sheet. And it caught the researchers who stumbled on it in 2011 off-guard, with...

Scientists Now 95% Sure Climate Change Is Our Fault

And say sea could rise 3 feet by end of century, according to leaked IPCC report

(Newser) - OK, we did it. A new UN report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found "it is extremely likely that human influence on climate caused more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010." That "extremely likely" is...

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