The rise in sea level could reach 50 feet by 2300, devastating coastal cities around the world

According to a study published in the newspaper, the average sea level could rise by nearly 7 meters if greenhouse gas emissions remain high. Annual Review of the Environment and Resources.

An international team of scientists reviewed sea level change research to synthesize our current understanding of the subject and help make better projections for the future. In the document, they summarize this understanding in the short, medium and long terms.

The rise in sea level varies by location and time and researchers have developed various methods to reconstruct past changes and project future changes. However, despite the different approaches, the results of the studies reviewed reveal clear trends, although the uncertainty of future forecasts increases over time.

"Our review of the literature shows that the central estimates of the future sea level range from 0.2 to 0.3 meters [0.7-1 feet] from here 2050; 0.4 to 1.5 meters from here 2100; 0.6 to 4.1 meters from here to 2150; 1.0 to 11.7 meters by 2300, with projections for high emission scenarios reaching 2.4 meters in 2100 and 15.5 meters in 2300, "said Robert Kopp, professor in the Department of Earth Sciences. Earth and planets from Rutgers University. study, says Newsweek.

A man standing in front of the horizon line in Manila Bay, Philippines, on April 26, 2017. The Manila metropolitan area has been facing more and more floods due to the fact. overexploitation of groundwater, which caused the sinking of the city, as well as a rapid rise of the sea. levels that have exceeded twice the world average. Jes Aznar / Getty Images

"Projections of sea level rise are not very sensitive to emissions until 2050 but become increasingly sensitive thereafter," he said.

These increases are worrying given that nearly 11 percent of the world's 7.6 billion people currently live in areas less than 3 meters tall. As a result, sea level rise is a major risk for coastal communities, economies, infrastructure and ecosystems worldwide, say the authors.

Estimates of average sea-level rise during the 20th century are about 1.1 to 1.9 millimeters per year (about half a foot per century), while estimates for more recent since the early 1990s are about twice as fast, from 2.6 to 3.2 millimeters per year.

"Much of the rise of the 20th century, including most of the world average level of sea level over the last quarter of the 20th century, is linked to human-induced warming, due to its influence on the warming of the ocean and the contraction of the land ice, "said Kopp.

According to the authors, careful characterization of what is known and unknown about sea-level rise is essential for managing the risks it poses to coastal and island communities around the world.