Molly Mitchell

Coastal sea levels in the U.S. are rising—and at an accelerating rate, according to the latest “report card” by researchers at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The team’s annual web-based report analyzes tide-gauge records for 32 localities along the U.S. coast from Maine to Alaska. “The key message from the 2019 report cards is a clear trend toward acceleration in rates of sea-level rise at 25 of our 32 tide-gauge stations. Acceleration can be a game changer in terms of impacts and planning, so we really need to pay heed to these patterns,” says project founder, VIMS emeritus professor John Boon. Last year, rates of sea-level rise accelerated at all 21 of the report-card stations along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts, and at seven of the eight monitored stations along the U.S. West Coast, excluding Alaska. All four stations monitored in Alaska show relative sea level falling at increasingly rapid rates, where the continued rise of coastal mountains generates sharp decreases in sea level relative to land. The relative sea-level rise in Virginia and other East and Gulf coast areas is due to both rising water and sinking land. VIMS marine scientist Molly Mitchell says “seeing acceleration at so many of our stations suggests that—when we look at the multiple sea-level scenarios that NOAA puts out based on global models—we may be moving towards the higher projections.” She adds, “We have increasing evidence from the tide-gauge records that these higher sea-level curves need to be seriously ...