NASA Satellite Record Reveals An Unexpected Sea Level Rise In 2024

According to the NASA satellite record, in 2024 we saw an unexpected global sea level rise due to certain reasons. The official report shows that in 2024 Earth saw a 0.59 centimetre sea level rise, which is greater than the expected 0.43 centimetre rise.

Reasons Behind The Unexpected 2024 Sea Level Rise Reflected in NASA Satellite Record

For certainty, the rising of the sea level isn’t shocking as Josh Willis, a sea level researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory points out. Willis points out that “the rise we saw in 2024 was higher than we expected.”

He adds that the rising of the sea level increases yearly, but “the rate of rise is getting faster and faster.” According to the research, about two-thirds of the sea level rise globally over the past few years is a result of the addition of water into the ocean from land.

This might be a result of melting ice sheets and glaciers, while a third of the expansion is a result of thermal expansion of the ocean water. However, these figures seem to be changing because in 2024 two-thirds of the sea level rise was as a result of thermal expansion of ocean waters.

Since 1993, the NASA satellite record on the sea level rise shows that the global sea level has more than doubled. A major cause of this rise is the increase in global temperature, which causes thermal expansion of the ocean waters.

Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, head of physical oceanography programs and the Integrated Earth System Observatory at NASA Headquarters in Washington, pointed out a very important factor. She identifies that 2024 was the warmest year on record and “Earth’s expanding oceans are following suit, reaching their highest levels in three decades.”

NASA Satellites Observing Sea Level Rise

NASA identifies two satellites actively monitoring Earth’s sea level from space. The space agency also points out that there is a third satellite preparing to join the already existing satellites to observe the Earth’s sea level.

The existing satellites monitoring Earth’s sea levels are TOPEX/Poseidon and Sentinel-6 Micheal Freilich. In 1992 TOPEX/Poseidon was launched into space and pioneered the observation of sea levels from space.

Following through was the Sentinel-6 Micheal Freilich, which launched in 2020 to observe sea levels just like TOPEX. We expect the launch of Sentinel-6B satellite which will be identical to the Sentinel-6 Micheal Freilich.