NASA helps launch new Federal website for monitoring sea level rise

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NASA helps launch new Federal website for monitoring sea level rise
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 26, 2024

A new resource designed to assist communities in preparing for rising sea levels is now available with the launch of the U.S. Sea Level Change website. Unveiled on Sept. 23 by the U.S. Interagency Task Force on Sea Level Change, the website compiles the latest data and insights on the environmental and social impacts of rising seas. NASA led the development effort for the task force, integrating data from multiple federal agencies.

"NASA, together with our partner agencies, has studied climate change and Earth's rising seas for decades," explained Karen St. Germain, director of NASA's Earth Science Division. "The data collected by our satellites and ground-based instruments is crucial to helping policymakers and communities prepare for the consequences of sea level rise. By combining NASA data with information from other federal agencies, the U.S. Sea Level Change website is the latest example of government working for the benefit of humanity."

The sea level task force, which operates under the U.S. Global Change Research Program, includes experts from NASA, the Department of Defense, NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, FEMA, and several other key federal agencies. Together, they created a user-friendly platform that provides a wealth of information on sea level science and its impact on coastal communities and infrastructure.

"Everyone will have access to accurate sea level and flooding information in their favorite U.S. coastal city and see the timing of the projected increase in water levels and flooding frequency," added Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, NASA's sea level change team lead.

The website offers detailed explainers on the science behind sea level change, summaries of regional impacts across U.S. coastlines, and the latest updates to the 2022 interagency sea level rise report. The report indicated that by 2050, U.S. coastlines could see an average rise of 10 to 12 inches above current levels, with projections based on various greenhouse gas emission scenarios.

Ben Hamlington, a sea level researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, emphasized, "Having this information in one place, delivered in a consistent and authoritative way through a true interagency effort, represents a big step forward for how the federal government helps coastal communities prepare for future sea level rise."

NASA's decades-long contributions to sea level research include its Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite and the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. These collaborations involve international and domestic partners like the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), underscoring NASA's pivotal role in global ocean monitoring efforts.