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Environment

Global warming could make tides higher as well as raising sea levels

In addition to the overall rise in sea level, the heights of tides are also changing as the oceans warm and separate into more distinct layers

By Michael Le Page

26 April 2024

A tide over 4 metres high caused flooding in Boston in January 2024

Erin Clark/The Boston Globe/Getty

High tides could be up to 4 centimetres higher in many places by 2100 as a result of the reduced mixing of ocean layers as seas get hotter, according to one of the first computer simulations of this effect.

These increases will be in addition to the overall rise in sea level and mean there will be a higher risk of flood defences being overtopped when storm surges coincide with high tides.

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Something strange is happening in the Pacific and we must find out why

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