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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

The rate of sea-level rise has surged for decades — and the trend will persist

Data from the 1990s showed an accelerated pace of sea-level rise, but new analysis shows that the speed-up started far earlier.
family members gather rocks and corals from the seabed to build a stone wall as protection against rising sea level

A family gather material for a wall against the rising Pacific Ocean, which is encroaching on their village in the island nation of Kiribati. Credit: Jonas Gratzer/Getty

The rate of sea-level rise has accelerated year after year since the mid-1960s, when parts of the world’s oceans began to expand as seawater absorbed more heat.

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Nature 572, 286 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02385-y

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