The global rise of seas recorded a new peak in 2023: the average level rose by 0.76 centimeters compared to the previous year due to global warming and above all the effects of El Niño.
This is demonstrated by 30 years of satellite observations, analyzed by a team of researchers led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The data were obtained from a long series of Earth observation missions: the first sea level monitoring activities began with the Topex/Poseidon mission, launched in 1992 by the United States and France, and then continued with various US and European satellites up to the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission, launched in 2020 and the result of collaboration between the European Space Agency, the European Commission, Eumetsat, NASA and Noaa, with the support of the French space agency Cnes.
Satellite observations show that the average global sea level has risen by approximately 9.4 centimeters since 1993. This increase has accelerated sharply over time, going from an annual growth of 0.18 centimeters in 1993 to the current 0.42 centimeters.
"At this rate, global average sea levels will rise another 20 centimeters by 2050, a change over the next three decades that will be double that of the previous 100 years and which will increase the frequency and damage of floods throughout the world. world,” says Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, head of NASA's sea level change team and ocean physics program in Washington.
The strong leap recorded between 2022 and 2023, experts explain, is mainly due to the passing of the baton between two opposing climate phenomena, La Nina and El Nino.
La Nina is characterized by lower than normal temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and determines a shift in atmospheric precipitation from the oceans towards the land: in this way it 'removes' water from the sea and lowers its level.
When the phenomenon occurred between 2021 and 2022, with rather weak effects, there was a lower than expected rise in sea levels.
In 2023, however, El Nino developed, which with higher than normal temperatures in the equatorial Pacific caused a shift in atmospheric precipitation from the land towards the oceans, causing a sharp rise in the seas.
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