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.

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[Jun 04, 2026] ‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: This is what the Global Justice Report published today makes very clear. Read the article by Jonathan Watts in the Guardian as an introduction. While this equal and habitable world is still possible, it is very unlikely that we will transition to this world as long as greedy and unethical billionaires supported by governments they own compete to be the first trillionaire. The report underlines that the fight for an equal and habitable world has to be a fight against a system that rewards extraction and depletion of all resources and requires infinitely growing consumption devouring the Earth's life-support system; a system designed to increase inequality and sustain the exploitation of almost all to serve the greed of a few!

[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.