“Fact Check: Trump’s Wildly Inaccurate Claims About Sea Levels Exposed”

Former President Donald Trump made inaccurate claims about sea levels during a recent rally in Virginia, where he mocked President Joe Biden’s assertion that climate change is the only existential threat to humanity. Trump stated that “global warming is fine” and downplayed the severity of rising sea levels, suggesting that the ocean may only rise an eighth of an inch in the next 497 years.

However, data from NASA and the World Meteorological Organization contradicts Trump’s claims. According to NASA, the global average sea level rise in 2023 was 0.17 inches per year, more than double the rate in 1993. The World Meteorological Organization reported that the rate of sea level rise between 2014 and 2023 was about 0.19 inches per year, indicating an accelerating trend.

University of California, Santa Cruz professor Gary Griggs, who studies sea level rise, criticized Trump’s statements as being out of touch with reality. He pointed out that sea levels are rising at a faster rate in certain locations, particularly along the east coast and Gulf of Mexico coast of the United States.

In Florida, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located, sea level rise is expected to be particularly severe. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows an increase of an eighth of an inch roughly every nine months near Mar-a-Lago, contradicting Trump’s claims.

Trump has a history of making similar inaccurate claims about sea levels, often joking about the prospect of gaining more waterfront property. In reality, rising sea levels pose a serious threat to coastal communities, increasing the risk of flooding, making hurricanes more destructive, and damaging infrastructure and ecosystems.

Overall, Trump’s dismissive attitude towards the reality of sea level rise is not supported by scientific evidence, and experts warn of the serious consequences that rising sea levels pose to coastal areas around the world.