Sea Level Rise Simulation - 30 Years

As the planet warms and continental ice melts, the sea level is rising worldwide. Sea level rise creates challenges for coastal communities like erosion, storm surge, and saltwater intrusion, just to name a few. Although exact ocean heights vary significantly due to local geography, climate, gravity and planetary rotation, scientists show change in sea level trends by comparing measurements against a 20 year average.This visualization uses the visual metaphor of water rising on a sphere to observe how far our oceans have risen between 1993 and 2023.

The blue mark on the ruler shows the exact measurements of the Integrated Multi-Mission Ocean Altimeter Data for Climate Research. The level of the animated water changes smoothly, driven by a 60-day floating average of the same data.