Under a worst-case scenario, climate change could raise ocean levels an average of more than eight feet by 2100, about 20 inches more than was indicated by the last federal report, published in 2012, according to scientists from universities and multiple federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A best-case scenario puts the rise at one foot by 2100, but the scientists say that a 1.5-foot increase is the most realistic.
“The authors examined six scenarios with a range of probabilities in an effort to help state and local governments plan for sea level rise. Under all of them, the Northeast should expect higher waters than much of the rest of the globe. The Pacific Northwest and Alaska would likely experience lower-than-average increases under the best-case scenarios,” says Inside Climate News.
The six-scenarios were based on United Nations models of future greenhouse gas emissions. New research on the Antarctic ice sheet’s rapid melting led the scientists to make more severe predictions than they had previously. Sea levels have risen by eight inches since 1880, causing flooding and destructive storm surges. Three of those inches occurred since 1993.