Global sea levels could increase by 1 foot by 2050 from their current level at the start of the millennium. Iconic beaches, large city centers, and quaint coastal towns must all be adapted to higher water levels. And though 12 inches of additional ocean water might sound like an exaggeration, a study published in the journal Earth's Future in August 2025 shows that sea level predictions have been accurate since the 1990s, indicating that planning for resilience has become paramount for our planet's future.
Sea-level Researchers utilize wind and water machines to simulate hurricane conditions in the ocean. It will also put more inland neighborhoods at risk of storm surges during hurricanes and high tides, and more residents will face the brunt of shifting waters. Planning for resilience has become paramount. Researchers utilize wind and water machines to simulate hurricane conditions at Florida International University in Miami, where seas are expected to rise by 10 to 17 inches between 2000 and 2040. That way, experts can design buildings strong enough to withstand higher ocean levels and future extreme weather events.
Yet studies suggest we may need to implement these plans faster than ever. The World Meteorological Organization reported in March 2025 that greenhouse gas emissions sent global temperatures soaring to record highs in 2024, leading to accelerated sea ice loss that translates to higher ocean levels. These changes can already be felt around the world today. A University of Hawai'i analysis also published in March 2025 found that sea level rise will impact certain areas in the Hawaiian Islands much sooner than previously thought. And on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Australia has begun offering the world's first climate refugee visas to residents of the low-elevation Polynesian island of Tuvalu, with more than 5,000 Tuvaluans applying for the first round of visas in the summer of 2025.
Continued flooding and extreme weather events highlight the urgency of infrastructure fixes to mitigate sea level rise, but such plans are often expensive. An April 2024 study from the Center for Climate Integrity estimated that Los Angeles County must spend $12.5 billion over the next 15 years to alleviate the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels. Across the country, the federal government awarded Maine a $69 million grant in July 2024 to improve the state's "climate resilience" in the face of higher waters.
Planning for the future is also challenging for smaller communities. Solutions like paying to move and demolish waterfront houses are often unpopular with homeowners, and beach nourishment, or adding more sand to the shorelithe rise in ne from than floor, is an expensive and temporary solution.
The Sea Level Rise Viewer, the rise in recent years as reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, visualizes community-level impacts from coastal flooding and sea level rise across the coastal contiguous United States. The rise in sea level will be far-reaching on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the U.S., but the increase in sea level will not affect the world equally. Some impacted countries, such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, and small South Pacific islands, will have contributed the least to global greenhouse gas emissions.
An analysis from Carbon Brief found the U.S. was responsible for releasing over 500 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent since 1850, or 20% of the world's historical total. Other major emitters include China (11%) and Russia (7%). As human activity releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, their heat-trapping characteristics fuel the warmer weather that causes sea level rise.
Ocean water naturally expands with warmer temperatures. Along with meltwater from shrinking Arctic glaciers pouring into the world's oceans, global mean sea levels are increasing. Emissions currently in the atmosphere mean sea level rise can't be stopped, but lower emissions scenarios can slow its pace.
Using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's technical report, released in 2022, Stacker identified projected sea level rise by 2050 for 40 cities in the U.S. The report identifies five sea level rise scenarios based on changes by 2100 from 2000 levels. They are low (an average of 1 foot globally), intermediate-low (1.6 feet), intermediate (3.3 feet), intermediate-high (4.9 feet), and high (6.6 feet). For each, projections under low, medium, and high emissions scenarios are included. Stacker focused on each low, intermediate, and high sea level rise emissions scenario.
Unlike most places on this list, cities in Alaska are seeing falling sea levels, as the land is rising with shifting tectonic plates. Read on to see where major coastal cities in the U.S. stand.
