The rise of sea levels has been a major concern for a while now but it has slowed down in 2022. However, NASA says it is only a blip and we are set to see faster sea level rise in the coming years.
Scientists clarified that the seal level did rise in 2022 but it was slower in comparison to the ongoing rate. Between 2021 and 2022, global oceans will absorb water equivalent to a million Olympic-size swimming pools. This added 0.11 inches to average global sea levels. The expected rise was 0.17 inches, reported Space.com.
According to the US space agency, the minor deviation was due to the cooling effects of the La Nina climate pattern. La Nina is the periodic cooling of sea surface temperatures across the east-central equatorial Pacific. The opposite is EL Nino which refers to the above-average sea-surface temperatures that periodically develop. They are counterparts of the same pattern.
NASA in a statement said that the sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean dropped during the La Nina years causing weather changes across the world. Weather forecasters are expecting El Nino to return in 2023.
Data from satellite measurements going back 30 years suggest that the sea level rise is only likely to speed up. In the 1990s, the sea was rising at a rate of 0.8 inches per year. By 2050, it will be three times more.