Animation: Global Sea Level Change (1992-2017)

Oct. 19, 2021

This animation shows how global sea levels have risen more than 80 millimeters (3.15 inches) over the past three decades, which is like covering the U.S. in about 4 meters (about 13 feet) of water over that period. The video breaks down total sea level rise (gray and red lines) and its two main causes:

• sea water expansion from ocean warming (yellow line)
• melting land-based glaciers and ice sheets (blue line)

The animation compares data from NASA satellites (gray line) and from NASA's Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) project (red, yellow, and blue lines).

The datasets are accessible here: https://doi.org/10.5067/ECG5D-SSH44 (DOI:10.5067/ECG5D-SSH44), and https://doi.org/10.5067/ALTCY-TJA50 (DOI:10.5067/ALTCY-TJA50).