NASA's new report has revealed shocking facts about last year's ocean warming!
An analysis released by NASA on Thursday revealed that the world’s ocean levels rose more than expected in 2024, the hottest year on record for Earth.
NASA explained that last year’s rise "was due to an unusual amount of ocean warming, combined with meltwater from land-based ice such as glaciers."
In 2024, global sea rose by 0.59 cm, well above the 0.43 cm predicted by scientists.
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Rising ocean levels are among the consequences of man-made climate change, and they have increased with a spike in the Earth’s average surface temperature.
According to NASA, over a recent three-decade period from 1993 to 2023, average ocean levels worldwide have increased by 10cm.
The phenomenon is mainly due to two main factors: the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps, which increased the flow of freshwater into the oceans, and the expansion of ocean water due to high temperature, a scientific process known as thermal expansion.
NASA stated that the observed rise in ocean level is primarily due to the first factor and less by another one.
"But in 2024, those contributions flipped, with two-thirds of sea level rise coming from thermal expansion," NASA added.
Ocean levels are likely to increase further as humans persist in emitting greenhouse gases, adversely affecting a wider population living on islands or along coastlines.
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