Sea Level Rise
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Future sea level rise poses a high risk to the rapidly increasing population in many coastal location. Unlike heat waves, droughts, storms and river floods, which have severe impacts on local to regional scales, a significant sea level rise will have impacts at the global scales. A rapid sea level rise caused be a collapse of parts of the Greenland or Antarctic ice sheets would result in massive migration, catastrophic loss of production capabilities and coastal real estate, and unprecedented pollution of the ocean. It is hard to imaging how humanity would cope with such a massive global disaster impacting social, economic and ecological systems at an unprecedented scale.

There is an urgent need for a better assessment of the full range of plausible sea level rise trajectories at local and regional scales to enable responsible risk governance. The SLR VCC aims for a comprehensive overview of recent advances in observations of sea level changes from local to global scales as well as the driving processes for sea level changes from decadal to century time scales. Forecasting decadal sea level changes at local and regional scales is an urgently needed services for engaged in risk governance in coastal settlements and mega cities. The SLR VCC will consider advances in modeling to enable such a forecasting. Scenario studies can help to establishing the probability density function of future sea level rise from local to global scales, which is a crucial input for thorough risk assessments. Assessing the potential impacts of sea level changes on coastal areas is another central input for risk governance.

If you are engaged in sea level related research or a societal stakeholder engaged in one way or another in risk governance related to sea level rise, please, do join this VCC. We need you!

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News

SLR VCC News

[May 08, 2026] Point of no Return: Oliver Milman in his article in the Guardian titled “‘Point of no return’: New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level” reports on a new paper in Nature, which finds that low-elevation coastal zones face sea-level commitments far beyond current planning horizons. Preparing to move out of the coastal zone must be a mandatory part of adaptation. For New Orleans, the study finds that ongoing sea level rise and the rampant erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana will swallow up the New Orleans area within a few generations.

[Apr 19, 2026] Venice Soon Needs a Plan B or ...: Catherine Bennett reports in her article published in the Guardian and titled “‘We can’t wait’: Venice already seeking floods plan B five years after barriers’ launch” that sea level rise and the ecological damage caused by the increasing use of the “flood defense system” MOSE will very soon require additional measures. However, those interviewed for the article do not want to acknowledge that over a few more decades it will become unavoidable to accept that Venice is a lost cause.

[Mar 31, 2026] Virginia Crossroads: Flood Resilience across the Commonwealth: The National Academy of Science organized on March 27, 2026 the climate event “Virginia Crossroads: Flood Resilience across the Commonwealth” in Charlottesville, Virginia. Most of the talking focused on the present and on money to tackle current problems, while a conversation about responsible risk governance for the future was absent. Read the NewsItem in the Newsroom.

[Mar 04, 2026] Sea Levels are Already Higher Than Previously Estimated: In an article in The Guardian titled “Global sea levels have been underestimated due to poor modelling, research suggests&rdquo, Tara Russell discusses a new study “ Sea level much higher than assumed in most coastal hazard assessments” by Katharina Seeger Philip S. J. Minderhoud published in Nature. The authors reach the conclusion that average sea levels are 30 cm higher than thought globally, and up to 150 cm in south-east Asia and the Indo-Pacific. This establishes an urgent need to revise many risk assessments and efforts to develop coastal resilience.

Platform News

[May 28, 2026] No King Day on June 14, 2026: The No Kings movement has announced a nationwide event on June 14, 2026, directly counter-programming the 80th birthday celebrations for Donald Trump and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bout on the south lawn of the White House.

[May 22, 2026] DRG VCC opened: The "Disaster Risk Governance VCC" has been initialized and is open now.

[May 21, 2026] NEXUS VCC opened: The "Food-Water-Energy Nexus VCC" has been initialized and is open now.

[May 09, 2026] Doomsday Clock is Getting Closer to Midnight: In January, the Doomsday clock was set to 85 seconds before midnight, the closest setting since it was established in 1947 in response to the threat of nuclear war. Sophie McBain in her article “‘The odds are not in our favour’: who sets the Doomsday Clock – and what can they tell us about the future of humanity?” emphasizes that with the wars on Iran and on the Ukraine, the rapid and largely uncontrolled development of AI and the climate breakdown all together increasing the likelihood of a nuclear war, the clock now stands closer to midnight than ever before. She asks the question of whether we can buy ourselves more time.