A new study in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that sea
level along the U.S. Atlantic coast — one of the world’s most
densely-populated coastal regions including New York, Boston and
Norfolk, Virginia — is rising up to four times faster than the
global average. Sea level along the 620-mile coastline has risen
by two to 3.7 millimeters per year since 1990. However, as
temperatures continue to rise, sea level could rise well beyond
the one-meter rise predicted by scientists, by up to an
additional 30 centimeters within the next 90 years. In
comparison, the average global sea level rise over the same
period was between 0.6 and one millimeter per year. The
localized acceleration is thought to be caused by a disruption
of Atlantic current circulation. “As fresh water from the
melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet enters the ocean, it disrupts
this circulation, causing the currents to slow down,” USGS
research oceanographer and study co-author Kara Doran explained.
“When the Gulf Stream current weakens, sea le