Our Rising Seas

Water & Energy

Changing conditions in the Pacific have stirred up Earth’s largest ocean and redistributed its heat, piling up warm waters along U.S. Western shores and raising sea level in the process.

Earth’s rising seas are some of the most visible signs of our warming planet. Over the last 23 years, NASA satellite missions have observed a steady rise in global sea levels as polar ice sheets me...

Whale Census and Habitat

This visualization shows total sea level change between 1992 and 2019, based on data collected from the TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, Jason-2, and Jason-3 satellites. Blue regions are where sea level ha...

Jason-1 Fact Sheet

The Legacy of Topex/Poseidon

Wind Speed

Natural Hazards

Global sea level rise is accelerating incrementally over time rather than increasing at a steady rate, as previously thought, according to a new study based on 25 years of NASA and European satelli...

On the left is Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) relative to the sea level mean (1993-2018). On the right is Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) with the sea level trend as the straight line. The data a...

Sea Level

El Niño/La Niña

El Niño is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The warmer water associated with El Niño displaces colder water in the upper layer of the ocean caus...

In many communities in the U.S., sea level rise is already a factor in people’s lives in the form of high-tide flooding.

Ocean Dynamic Topography

A look at how NASA is dealing with the threat of sea level rise to its coastal infrastructure.

Earth Science

It’s not only water processes that play a role in global sea level rise – ground movements can play a significant role as well.

TOPEX/Poseidon Measurement System

Water Vapor

OSTM/Jason-2 insignia for launch vehicle

Jason-1 Pin

Variability of Ocean Dynamic Topography

Bringing Satellite Data Down to Earth