Future sea level rise may be greater than previously thought.

The article focuses on a study revealing that nearly 99 percent of 385 peer-reviewed global and regional studies on sea level rise and coastal flooding, published between 2009 and 2025, underestimated sea levels by an average of 20 to 30 centimeters. Researchers Katharina Seeger and Philip Minderhoud of Wageningen University identified a widespread error related to the use of geoids—digital models of Earth's ocean surface—that fail to account for factors like ocean currents and tides, leading to significant inaccuracies. This underestimation implies that up to 132 million people could be affected by a one-meter sea level rise, which is 68 percent more than previously projected. The findings highlight the need for improved data alignment and corrections in coastal hazard research, and the researchers have made updated coastal sea level data publicly available to support future studies. [Extracted from the article]