Rising Seas, Vanishing Coastlines

The oceans have risen and fallen throughout Earth’s history, following the planet’s natural temperature cycles. Twenty thousand years ago, what is now New York City was at the edge of a giant ice sheet, and the sea was roughly 400 feet lower. But as the last ice age thawed, the sea rose to where it is today.

Middle ground Of Sea-Level Change

New research is throwing light on another, less-familiar component of sea-level variability, the “intra-seasonal” changes that occupy the middle ground between rapid, storm-related surges in sea level and the long-term increase in sea level due to global climate change.

We Need to Retreat From the Beach

As ocean waters warm, the Northeast is likely to face more Sandy-like storms. And as sea levels continue to rise, the surges of these future storms will be higher and even more deadly. We can’t stop these powerful storms. But we can reduce the deaths and damage they cause… An Op Ed by Orrin H. Pilkey.

Venice High Water Floods 70% of City

Venice’s high water, or “acqua alta”, said to be the sixth highest since 1872, flooded 70% of the city and was high enough to make raised wooden platforms for pedestrians float away.

Sea Level Rise Accelerating For US East Coast

This summer the North Carolina Senate passed a bill banning researchers from reporting predicted increases in the rate of sea level rise. But the ocean, unbound by legislation, is rising anyway, and in North Carolina this rise is accelerating, researchers reported…

Storms, Floods, and Droughts

The cycle that transports water around the Earth is intensifying. The ocean contains 96 percent of the free water on Earth, and it acts like a massive water pump. Now, as global temperatures have been rising, there is strong evidence that the ocean water pump has been revving up.