Sea levels around Africa are rising faster than the global average: What's behind this alarming trend
When we say sea level has risen, we're comparing it to a stable reference level, the distance between the satellite and the ocean surface.
I'm an oceanographer and geophysicist who specializes in these measurements. My research team and I analyzed ocean height measurements collected by radar instruments on orbiting satellites from 1993 to 2024, for all waters surrounding Africa.
Our
analysis revealed that African seas have risen by approximately 11.26cm since 1993. This process is driven by warming waters and melting ice.
African sea levels are rising by approximately 3.54 millimeters each year, which exceeds the global average of 3.45 mm/yr. Perhaps more troubling is that the pace of rise is speeding up, especially in African waters. This acceleration is a long-term trend driven by ongoing ocean warming and ice sheet melting, and it persists regardless of whether any individual year features an El Niño or a La Niña. The ocean continues to absorb heat and receive meltwater from ice sheets year after year, and it is this relentless accumulation, not any single climate cycle, that drives the long-term acceleration.
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What drives rising sea levels
Two main factors drive sea level rise globally. First, as ocean water warms,
it expands. Second, melting glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica add water mass to the oceans. Both are consequences of human-caused climate change.
This rise is not a natural cycle. While sea levels have fluctuated throughout Earth's history, the current rate of rise is far faster than anything seen in thousands of years, driven by the burning of fossil fuels and the resulting buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
