Rising Sea Levels: When, Where, and Who?
By 2100, areas now home to 200 million people could fall permanently below the high tide line. 200 million.
By 2100, areas now home to 200 million people could fall permanently below the high tide line. 200 million.
Over the past 15 years, the global mean sea level has risen 54 mm. With Kat from KatKat Studio, we decided to create a set with our own individual skills, her with jewelry, myself with design, to display data about this sea level rise, and its consequences.
→ Check (and buy) the set now on KatKatStudio ←
Inspiration
We took inspiration from the ocean shapes and hues for both pieces. With ocean depth comes darker blues. With waves and water comes transparency and the concept of layering, like the waves layers on the shore: on the beads for the jewelry and on the water column for the poster.
The earrings
The earrings relay the big picture and answer the question of how much has global sea level risen over the years? Over the past 15 years, the global mean sea level has risen 54 mm. This general rise in sea level over time is illustrated by the increasing wave of green and blue beads. Each column of beads represents a year from 2006 to 2020. Global mean sea level fluctuates each year, and these yearly changes are represented by the white (increases) and gray (decreases) beads. Noticeable increases occur during 2012, 2013, and 2016.
HDR GSFC. 2020. Global Mean Sea Level Trend from Integrated Multi-Mission Ocean Altimeters TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, OSTM/Jason-2, and Jason-3. Version 5.0 Ver. 5.0 PO.DAAC CA, USA.
Dataset accessed 2021-03-02 at http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/GMSLM-TJ150.
Dataset accessed 2021-03-02 at http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/GMSLM-TJ150.
The Poster
The data visualization poster is designed to highlight why rising sea level matters. Each island floating represents one of the 10 countries the most affected by the sea-level rise. The extent to which these islands are located vertically symbolizes the millions of people from these countries that will also be underwater. If countries continue to produce greenhouse gas following the same trajectory (RCP 4.5), homes of now more than 200 million people could fall permanently below the high tide line by 2100. By limiting our gas emissions (RCP 2.6), we could save millions of lives from floods and countries from catastrophic human and economic consequences.
Kulp, S.A., Strauss, B.H. New elevation data triple estimates of global vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding. Nat Commun 10, 4844 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12808-z
