Sea level rise rate doubles in a decade, UN report warns

Several oceans are facing ‘severe’ pressure from human activities after the rate of sea level rise accelerated over a ten-year period, according to a UN-led report, prompting calls for a global effort to limit the impacts of pollution and climate change. The ‘increasing’ pressures are cumulative, encompassing pollution and large-scale industrial fishing, the Third World Ocean Assessment (WOA III) explained. WOA III is the only integrated global assessment of the world’s oceans covering environmental, economic, and social aspects. The forum assessed the state of the oceans from 2021 to 2025 and represents a collective effort by a cross-sectoral team of more than 650 experts from dozens of countries. The assessment, released on Monday, underscored that human-caused activities are driving widespread biodiversity loss and placing ‘severe pressure’ on ocean systems. The study also found that approximately 16 per cent of the total increase in ocean heat content since 1955 has occurred since 2018. ‘We cannot continue to treat the ocean as an infinite resource. Urgent global collaboration is needed to protect marine ecosystems,’ UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed, adding that the world must build a new relationship with the ocean based on science, framed by international law, and built on shared responsibility across nations, sectors, and generations.