Scientists have been miscalculating sea-level rise since 2009
Turns out, almost every major study since 2009 has lowballed just how much coastal sea levels are rising, by as much as 1 meter in some places.
Researchers checked 385 studies and found that, on average, they underestimated sea levels by about 24 to 27cm (10-inch) compared with reality.
Why the mix-up?
Most studies only looked at gravity and Earth's spin, missing key factors like tides, currents, and winds.
Some even mismatched sea-level data with land elevation.
Less than 1% properly aligned sea-level and land-elevation data.
What does this mean for us?
In areas like Southeast Asia and the Nile Delta, this undercount could mean millions more people (up to 132 million) are at risk from rising seas than we thought.
The team behind the study is sharing their updated data so cities and policymakers can plan better for our future coastlines.