https://nautil.us/why-is-sea-level-rise-worse-in-some-places-294325/ logo * * home icon * search icon [ ] search icon * Channels * Topics * About * Contact us * Newsletter * Become a member * Shop Channels [qkQZ8WA9-art-science-4] Art+Science [Biology_Beyond-1] Biology + Beyond [Brain_left] Brain [cosmos] Cosmos [earth-1] Earth [ocean] Ocean [OneQuestion-logo] One Question [QuantaAb-logo] Quanta Abstractions [JAiEEmsV-science-phill] Science Philanthropy Alliance [spark_logo_short_color-] Spark of Science [Women-in-Science-Engineering] Women in Science & Engineering Topics * Anthropology * Arts * Astronomy * Communication * Economics * Environment * Evolution * General * Genetics * Geoscience * Health * History * Math * Microbiology * Neuroscience * Paleontology * Philosophy * Physics * Psychology * Sociology * Technology * Zoology Prime member? Login here * facebook-icon * twitter-icon * Subscribe logo Close Search for: [ ] [Search] logo Login Subscribe * Geoscience Why Is Sea Level Rise Worse In Some Places? One question for Sonke Dangendorf, a coastal flooding researcher at Tulane University. * By Katherine Harmon Courage * April 10, 2023 * [comment-pl] Add a comment * [share] Share img Facebook img Twitter img Pocket img Reddit imgEmail Article Lead Image [OneQuestio] Explore One question for Sonke Dangendorf, who studies sea levels, tides, storm surges, and coastal flooding at Tulane University's School of Science and Engineering. In Body ImagePhoto courtesy of Sonke Dangendorf Why is sea level rise worse in some places? There is sometimes a misconception that the ocean behaves like a bathtub, but that's not true. If we look at the global picture, there are two major reasons why sea levels are rising. One is that the ocean is warming, and it needs more space and expands. And the other one is that ice sheets and glaciers are melting, and they put more mass into the ocean. But if we look locally, there are a lot of factors that lead to regionally varying sea level rise. We have changes in ocean circulation, and the same is true for winds. Imagine, in the simplest form, winds over the ocean push water masses from one side to the other. That can lead to changes in sea level over several years to decades. The same is true for ocean currents because winds affect ocean currents. It's not only the ocean that is rising, but it's also the land that is sinking. If we put water into the ocean by ice sheets or glaciers that are melting, their gravitational field is also changed. Here, there are three things that happen: You put mass into the ocean, so sea levels rise globally on average. But then, the ice sheet is a heavy body of mass, and due to its mass, it attracts the water of the surrounding ocean, like the moon generates tides. So as that ice sheet melts you reduce that gravitational attraction, and the water migrates away from the ice sheet. And then at the same time, the weight of the ice sheet also becomes less, and it leads to uplift of the ground below. So it leads to sea level fall near the ice sheets but sea level rise in what we call far-field--like here in Louisiana, for instance. Then, lastly, in particular here in Louisiana, it's not only the ocean that is rising, but it's also the land that is sinking. So we see subsidence, for instance, due to fluid withdrawal like crop water withdrawal and oil and gas withdrawal that have led to subsidence in some areas. In our study, we saw sea level rise rates in excess of a third of an inch per year from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to the Gulf of Mexico. These high rates of sea level rise have already had profound impacts on our coasts in the region. For instance, in the Gulf of Mexico, in this period, we have seen a doubling of what we call high-tide flooding events. These "sunny-day floodings" due to sea level rise mean streets and sometimes properties get flooded and lead to considerable damage. We have also seen, in Louisiana in particular, on top of that, local subsidence--much larger rates of Louisiana has been losing land, equal to the entire state of Delaware since the 1930s. This sea level rise has also coincided with record-breaking hurricane seasons. And these hurricanes can build up on a higher base level with these higher sea levels, so that means these events can become more destructive with the underlying sea level rise. We will continue to see what we have seen in the past, that there have been different kinds of hotspots of sea level change, and they can shift from time to time. They will continue to accelerate in the future, and that means we will see these kinds of hotspots more often. [nautilus-f] Lead image: MainlanderNZ / Shutterstock * Katherine Harmon Courage Posted on April 10, 2023 Katherine Harmon Courage is a deputy editor at Nautilus. new_letter Get the Nautilus newsletter Cutting-edge science, unraveled by the very brightest living thinkers. Newsletter Signup (Embedded) Email * [ ] If you are human, leave this field blank. [ ] Join [comment-pl] View / Add Comments Article Lead Image Geoscience Searching for the River of Wind Article Lead Image Psychology Sugar Pill Nation Article Lead Image Zoology The Story of a Lonely Orca * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image Exercise Is Great for Our Brains, Too, Right? + By Brian Gallagher + April 3, 2023 + Health One question for Luis Ciria, a neuroscientist at the University of Granada. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image Does GPT-4 Really Understand What We're Saying? + By Brian Gallagher + March 27, 2023 + Technology One question for David Krakauer, an evolutionary theorist and president of the Santa Fe Institute for complexity science. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image What Happens to My Brain on the Psychedelic DMT? + By Brian Gallagher + March 20, 2023 + Neuroscience One question for Christopher Timmermann, a cognitive neuroscientist at Imperial College London. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image Does More Money Make Us Happier? + By Brian Gallagher + March 13, 2023 + Psychology One question for Matt Killingsworth, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image How Will the Universe Evolve? + By Brian Gallagher + March 6, 2023 + Astronomy One question for Jillian Scudder, astrophysicist and author of "The Milky Way Smells of Rum & Raspberries." * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image How Much Is a Living Elephant Worth? + By Lina Zeldovich + February 27, 2023 + Economics One question for Ralph Chami, assistant director at the International Monetary Fund. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image Is Earth Running Out of Freshwater? + By Brian Gallagher + February 22, 2023 + Environment One question for Matthew Birkhold, author of "Chasing Icebergs: How Frozen Freshwater Can Save the Planet." * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image Will CRISPR Cure Cancer? + By Brian Gallagher + February 13, 2023 + Microbiology One question for Brad Ringeisen, a chemist and executive director of the Innovative Genomics Institute. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image What Makes the Milky Way Special? + By Brian Gallagher + February 6, 2023 + Astronomy One question for Miguel Aragon, a computational physicist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image Can AI Help Us Be Better People? + By Brian Gallagher + January 30, 2023 + Philosophy One question for Jon Rueda, a doctoral student in moral philosophy at the University of Granada. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image When Will Fusion Energy Light Our Homes? + By Brian Gallagher + January 23, 2023 + Economics One question for Thomas Nicholas, a computational plasma physicist and former fusion researcher who now studies climate science at Columbia University. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image What Is Our Universe Expanding Into? + By Brian Gallagher + January 16, 2023 + Astronomy One question for Paul Sutter, a theoretical cosmologist at Stony Brook University. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image Should People Live on the Moon? + By Brian Gallagher + January 9, 2023 + Astronomy One question for Joseph Silk, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image How Is TikTok Affecting Mental Health? + By Brian Gallagher + January 3, 2023 + Health One question for J.D. Haltigan, an assistant professor of child and youth mental health at the University of Toronto. * [OneQuestio] Explore Article Recirculation Lead Image Will Neurotech Force Us to Update Human Rights? + By Brian Gallagher + December 19, 2022 + Technology One question for Nita Farahany, a philosopher at Duke University. logo NAUTILUS: SCIENCE CONNECTED Nautilus is a different kind of science magazine. Our stories take you into the depths of science and spotlight its ripples in our lives and cultures. Get the Nautilus newsletter Cutting-edge science, unraveled by the very brightest living thinkers. Newsletter Signup (Embedded) Email * [ ] If you are human, leave this field blank. [ ] Join Quick links * Home * About Us * Contact * FAQ * Prime * Ebook * Shop * Donate * Awards and Press * Privacy Policy * Terms of Service * RSS * Jobs * Newsletter * Ethics Policy Social * facebook * twitter * instagram --------------------------------------------------------------------- (c) 2023 NautilusNext Inc., All rights reserved. logo SUBSCRIBE TO THE NAUTILUS PRINT EDITION! Subscribe Quantcast fbpx