2023–2024 El Niño triggered record-breaking sea level spike along African coastlines, study finds
Africa's coastlines are under growing threat as sea levels climb faster than ever, driven by decades of global warming caused by human activity, natural climate cycles, and warming ocean waters. Between 2009 and 2024, the continent experienced a 73% increase in sea-level rise, according to a recent study published in Communications Earth & Environment.
The rise stems primarily from a warming ocean that is slowly expanding and from glaciers on land that are melting into the sea—both clear consequences of human-induced climate change.
One powerful episodic accelerator that interacts with the already warmed-up ocean is El Niño—an unusual warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that disrupts weather patterns worldwide.
The 2023–2024 El Niño alone contributed 2.34 centimeters to global sea-level rise in just a single two-year period. This anomaly accounted for approximately 19% of the total increase observed over the 32-year satellite record since 1993.
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