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Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming: the added water from melting land ice and the expansion of sea water as it warms. The first chart tracks the change in sea level since 1993 as observed by satellites. The second chart, derived from coastal tide gauge data, shows how much sea level changed from about 1870 to 2000.

On July 20th, James Hansen, the former NASA climatologist who brought climate change to the public's attention in the summer of 1988, issued a bombshell: He and a team of climate scientists had identified a newly important feedback mechanism off the coast of Antarctica that suggests mean sea levels could rise 10 times faster than previously predicted: 10 feet by 2065. The authors included this chilling warning: If emissions aren't cut, "We conclude that multi-meter sea-level rise would become practically unavoidable. Social disruption and economic consequences of such large sea-level rise could be devastating. It is not difficult to imagine that conflicts arising from forced migrations and economic collapse might make the planet ungovernable, threatening the fabric of civilization."

For thousands of years, sea level has remained relatively stable and human communities have settled along the planet's coastlines. But now Earth's seas are rising. Globally, sea level has risen about eight inches (20 centimeters) since the beginning of the 20th century and more than two inches (5 centimeters) in the last 20 years alone. All signs suggest that this rise is accelerating.

At the University of Miami's Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Brian McNoldy and other researchers have been accumulating sea level data from Virginia Key (a small island just south of Miami Beach) since 1996. Over those nineteen years, sea levels around the Miami coast have already gone up 3.7 inches.

The story that should dominate every end of year round up from every media outlet on the planet came last month in the form of two reports released at the U.N. climate summit in Bonn. The first confirmed atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest levels in at least 800,000 years and possibly 3 million to 5 million years. As Emily Shuckburgh of the British Antarctic Survey said, the last time concentrations of greenhouse gas were as high as they are, sea levels were around 10 meters higher. Up to two meters of sea level rise this century is now entirely plausible. However, the second report was the real kicker. The Global Carbon Project predicted carbon emissions will rise this year after four years when flat emissions fuelled hopes global economic growth and carbon emissions had been decoupled

Can't imagine what your city would look like with a sea-level rise? These maps show endangered coastlines and landmarks. 

A report in the journal Nature Climate Change said climate change and rising sea levels could threaten 13.1 million people living along the coastal United States. The study combines population projections with rising sea level models. The areas with the greatest percentage of people at risk are Florida's Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Smaller communities are threatened too and are dealing now with environmental changes.

Venice is the Mediterranean World Heritage Site currently most at risk from flooding due to sea level rise, according to a recent study, and the city even has elevated sidewalks ready in case of high tides, but Monday's waters rose higher than the emergency sidewalks. The tide surpassed 5 feet, 3 inches, making it the highest recorded since 2008 and potentially the highest recorded since 1979, CNN reported.

New research suggests that millions of Americans currently live in regions that would be inundated by rising oceans if global temperatures continue to rise. The major remaining question isn't whether such change is coming, but rather how quickly it will come, says researcher Benjamin Strauss. "The question is, how long is the fuse and has it been lit yet?" he says. 

Low-lying European cities such as Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Hamburg, Germany, are preparing for rising sea levels, and their innovative methods could prove instructive for cities in similar predicaments around the world. One strategy: "building with nature" by using sand and marsh grasses to protect coastlines. 

As sea levels rise, high-tide flooding is becoming a growing problem in many parts of the globe, including cities on the U.S. East Coast. Now, new research shows that as these waters recede, they carry toxic pollutants and excess nutrients into rivers, bays, and oceans

The report ranks 171 nations in terms of their risk. It has two components: the exposure they face from extreme events like typhoons, drought and earthquakes, and their ability to deal with those catastrophes, or their vulnerability. Sea-level rise is a key driver of the assessment. Many of the top 10 nations facing high risks are located along coastlines.

Danish city officials announced the completion of what they claim to be the world's first neighborhood adapted for climate change in Copenhagen: the St. Kjeld neighborhood has been retrofitted with mini-parks, rooftop water collection, and raised sidewalks to direct excess water from extreme weather events and rising sea levels towards the harbor.

Climate change and other hurdles mean it will take more water - and potentially more taxpayer money - to save the Everglades, according to new scientific findings released Thursday. The report to Congress warns that rising seas and warming temperatures are threatening to worsen damage already done by decades of drainage and pollution, caused by development and farming overtaking the Everglades. A recent report showed that climate change, pollution and other factors could increase the cost to restore the Florida Everglades. So far, restoration costs are pegged at $16 billion, but additional efforts, such as proposed reservoirs, could add to that cost.

London, Jakarta, Shanghai and Houston and other global cities that are already sinking will become increasingly vulnerable to storms and flooding as a result of global warming, campaigners have warned ahead of a landmark new report on climate science.