How Will Sea Level Rise Affect Us?

Written By Teacher: Teresa Pettitt-Kenney

Hi there! My name is Teresa and I just finished my Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and am excited to pursue environmental education in the future! I am extremely passionate about climate change, equitable climate action, and how education can work to address these issues. 

Discussions of impending sea level rise can be scary for students. They might have heard how parts of the world are sinking underwater, and feel as if there is nothing they can do to stop it. The best way to tackle this is to learn more about the science behind sea level rise in our warming climate. Cover the basics first with an introductory lesson on sea level rise, then highlight some practical solutions with videos. The more students understand the processes behind sea level rise and the real-world steps they can take to help prevent it, the more level-headed they’ll feel when discussing the topic.

Written By: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

The MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, a part of MIT Climate HQ, provides the public with nonpartisan, easy-to-understand, and scientifically-grounded information on climate change and its solutions.

Sea levels around the world are rising because of climate change. As humans burn fossil fuels, we release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, which warm the Earth and the oceans. Because water expands as it warms, the oceans are rising higher as they heat up. Climate change is also melting glaciers and ice sheets, adding more water to the oceans.

Worldwide, sea levels have gone up roughly eight to nine inches in the last century, and sea levels in some places have gone up much more than that. In the past two decades, sea level rise has been speeding up as more ice and glaciers melt.

Even if humans significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions, we can still expect one to two feet of additional sea level rise by the end of the century because of past emissions. But to a certain extent, how much the sea level continues to rise beyond that is up to us—and how much we keep burning fossil fuels.

How does sea level rise affect us?

The rate of sea level rise in a particular place depends on a number of factors, including ocean currents, the movement of the Earth’s crust, and whether coastal land is rising or sinking. The eastern United States is one example of a sea level rise hot spot, where the ocean along some coastal cities is already a foot and a half higher than it was before the industrial revolution.