Ulleungdo Submerged 18cm Over 34 Years... Accelerating Sea Level Rise

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries National Oceanographic Research Institute Observation Results
Total Sea Level Rose 10.3cm Over 34 Years

Daepunggam, Ulleungdo.

The sea level in our country has been rising by an average of 3.03mm per year, increasing by about 10.3cm over the past 34 years.

On the 19th, the National Oceanographic Research Institute of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced these results after analyzing sea level data from 21 coastal tide observation stations. Since 2009, the National Oceanographic Research Institute has been compiling annual data collected from coastal tide observation stations to announce sea level rise rates, in order to analyze long-term sea level changes, which is one of the key indicators to confirm the impact of climate change.

From 1989 to 2022, the average annual sea level rise by sea area was highest on the East Coast at 3.44mm, followed by the West Coast (3.15mm) and the South Coast (2.71mm).

By observation point, Ulleungdo has been sinking the fastest. Ulleungdo’s sea level rose by 5.31mm per year, exceeding 18cm over the past 34 years. It was followed by ▲ Gunsan (3.41mm) ▲ Pohang (3.34mm) ▲ Boryeong (3.33mm) ▲ Sokcho (3.23mm) ▲ Wido (3.19mm).

The problem is that the rate of sea level rise has been confirmed to be accelerating recently. The average sea level rise rate over the past 10 years (2013?2022) was 4.51mm per year, which is 1.3 times higher than the average sea level rise rate over the past 30 years (1993?2022) of 3.41mm per year.

If the sea level continues to rise like this, the possibility of damage such as flooding during disasters like typhoons may increase.

Kim Jae-cheol, Director of the National Oceanographic Research Institute, said, "We will continue to carry out sea level variation analysis research without fail so that the long-term analysis data on sea level rise in our country can be used as important basic information for coastal management and climate change response policy promotion."

Meanwhile, the annual average sea level height data is scheduled to be announced on the National Oceanographic Research Institute’s website in the first half of next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.