Sea level rise rate doubles in a decade, UN ocean assessment warns
A UN‑led report warns that the rate of sea level rise has doubled over the past decade, from 2 mm per year before 2015 to 4.3 mm in 2023. Human activities are putting oceans under “severe strain,” causing biodiversity loss and accelerating ocean heat content increase.
The world’s oceans face “severe” pressure from human activities as the rate of sea level rise has doubled in 10 years, a UN‑led report warned, urging global action to limit pollution and climate change. The Third World Ocean Assessment (WOA III), covering 2021‑2025, found that stressors including pollution and large‑scale industrial fishing are cumulative and intensifying.
Accelerating changes
Sea level rise increased from 2 millimetres per year before 2015 to 4.3 millimetres per year in 2023. Approximately 16% of the total increase in ocean heat content since 1955 has occurred since 2018. Human‑induced activities are causing widespread biodiversity loss and putting ocean systems under “severe strain.” The assessment was compiled by over 650 experts from dozens of countries.
Call for action
UN Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres stated: “We cannot keep treating the ocean as limitless. Urgent global collaboration is needed to protect marine ecosystems. We must build a new relationship with the ocean grounded in science, framed by international law and built on shared responsibility.”
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