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A Nigerian woman walks at a flooded place
Image: Adeyinka Yusuf/AA/picture allianceImage: Adeyinka Yusuf/AA/picture alliance

Rising sea levels

As higher temperatures cause ice sheets to melt, sea levels are — rising leaving coastal communities around the world to look for solutions. Some are opting to relocate, while others build defenses to keep the ocean out.

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All Content on this topic

DW "Eco Africa" Sendungslogo mit Partnerlogos (Composite)

Eco Africa — The Environment Magazine

Threats to Gambia's blue economy, Tunisian olive farming in crisis and an eco hospital in Ghana.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 26, 202426:06 min
DW ECO INDIA 02.02.2024

Mongla in Bangladesh becomes home for climate refugees

Large parts of the country are flooded and uninhabitable. The port town of Mongla welcomes climate refugees.
MigrationFebruary 26, 202404:56 min
DW's Eco India

How can we safeguard the things worth protecting?

Rescuing birds in cities to stop species decline. Plus: Renewing urban wasteland and recycling phosphorus from urine.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 15, 202426:06 min
A woman wearing a broad-brimmed hat stands chest-deep in water as she tends to her fishing pots.

An Indonesian village adapts to life on sinking land

Meet the residents of Timbulsloko, a tiny coastal village on the island of Java that's being swallowed by rising tides.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 7, 202402:49 min
Four workers plant mangroves in a wetland

NGOs take on rising sea levels in Cameroon’s Douala

NGOs aim to halt flooding and coastal erosion in Douala by planting mangroves and educating locals.
Nature and EnvironmentDecember 8, 202305:23 min
Big Picture "Traumurlaub für Geimpfte" | Maldives

Rising sea levels threaten to render Maldives uninhabitable

President Mohamed Muizzu hopes some ambitious engineering can mitigate the threat.
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 23, 202302:21 min
Kiribati islands and villages seen from above

Sinking islands: Kiribati faces up to climate change

Climate change is threatening the island nation of Kiribati, but its residents refuse to be displaced.
SocietyNovember 18, 202312:36 min
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, and Tuvalu's Prime Minister Kausea Natano shake hands on One Foot Island

Australia, Tuvalu agree to security and climate deal

Some residents of Tuvalu will have a chance to move to Australia to escape rising sea levels, according to a new treaty.
PoliticsNovember 10, 2023
Adult gentoo penguin leaping into tide pool at Port Lockroy, Antarctica

Antarctica: What's the big deal over resource exploitation?

With abundant fish and krill, and potential energy reserves, why is it so important to protect the South Pole?
Nature and EnvironmentOctober 20, 2023
DW "Global Us" Sendungslogo Composite

What do we do about the climate crisis?

What do we do about the climate crisis? Insights from Brazil, Belize and South Africa.
ClimateAugust 16, 202326:06 min
A man bends forward next to a water truck

Indonesia's sinking megacity of Jakarta has a water problem

Because Jakarta's residents use groundwater as their main water source, Jakarta is sinking.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 12, 202303:04 min
Concrete blocks installed to break the Mediterranean sea waves along the waterfront in Egypt's northern Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria

Rising sea levels: Is land reclamation still viable?

With coastal areas threatened by rising seas and destructive storms, should we still be creating new land in our oceans?
Nature and EnvironmentMay 15, 2023
Water laps the bottom level of four homes in Harbor Island, South Carolina

Floods and rising sea levels pushes planned migration

Instead of trying to prolong the inevitable move caused by rising sea levels, some communities are already adapting.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 9, 2023
A man pulls his animals during the monsoon season on the outskirts of Bhan Syedabad, Pakistan

UN weather report reveals 'chronicle of climate chaos'

Earth's warming weather and rising seas are getting worse, the World Meteorological Organization found in a new report.
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 6, 2022
A row of seaside apartment blocks and hotels, edged by a small beach and lapping waves

Jewel of the Mediterranean at risk of sinking

Alexandria is at risk of sinking due to rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 23, 202205:38 min
Homes on a rising waterfront in the Fiji Islands

Fiji's sinking islands

Rising sea levels have forced several hundred villages in the South Pacific archipelago to relocate to higher ground.
Nature and EnvironmentAugust 10, 20228 images
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Defying the rising sea levels of Thailand

Thailand is already suffering the effects of climate change. One village is fighting back.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 12, 202205:42 min
DW Eco India (Sendungslogo)

Eco India — The Environment Magazine

How climate change impacts water.
Nature and EnvironmentJanuary 27, 202226:01 min
Living Planet 210318 Podcast Picture Teaser

The future of water

This week, we hear from communities trying to push back the seas and others suffering from diminishing water supplies.
Nature and EnvironmentJanuary 6, 202229:59 min
Thwaites glacier in Antarctica

Antarctica: Mighty Thwaites Glacier threatens to melt

Global warming is threatening ice shelves linked to the Thwaites Glacier. Much of it could melt into the sea.
Nature and EnvironmentJanuary 5, 20228 images
Children fishing on the coast near Saint-Louis, Senegal

Senegal: Historic city and livelihoods lost to rising sea

The stunning coastal city of Saint-Louis is at greater risk from rising sea levels than any other in Africa.
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 18, 202110 images
DW Made in Germany Sendungslogo englisch

Climate change and inequality

Why does the climate crisis affect people differently depending on where they live in the world?
BusinessOctober 26, 202126:01 min
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Some facts on climate change

Global warming will exceed 1.5°C by 2030, badly affecting the global economy.
Nature and EnvironmentOctober 26, 202104:41 min
Dokumentation | Stadt, Land, Flut

In deep water - New ways to manage flooding

Extreme weather is on the rise worldwide.
ScienceJuly 27, 202128:31 min
Aerial view of salt marsh in the Baratari Bay area of the Mississippi River delta

World in Progress: Dwindling deltas

Scientists are trying to mitigate impacts on Louisiana's coastline and keep its communities and wildlife above water.
Nature and EnvironmentJuly 21, 202129:59 min
Floating ice floes in Antarctica

Antarctic nearing climate disaster despite treaty

Burning fossil fuels threatens one of the last areas on Earth left unspoiled by extractive human industries.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 23, 2021
A mermaid figurine in the Tidewater Gardens neighborhood of Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk's encroaching shore

The example of the coastal city in the US shows that climate change has a social dimension.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 22, 202102:31 min
Dokumentation 10810 Malediven

Maldives - Fighting Back the Tides of Trash

Thilafushi, an island of floating rubbish island in the Maldives, grows by a square meter a day.
SocietyMarch 27, 202126:05 min
DW Eco India (Sendungslogo)

Eco India - The Environment Magazine

Eco India shows how people in India and Europe are seeking to combat rising sea levels.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 30, 202026:06 min
Eco India Jakarta sinks

Jakarta is sinking

Climate change and rising sea levels pose a threat to cities like Jakarta.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 30, 202006:54 min
Ecoindia047

Protective mangroves under threat

Mangroves help protect Mumbai from flooding. But environmental pollution is threatening the forests.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 30, 202003:49 min
DW ecoindia

Manila flood protection

Many slum-dwellers in Manila threatened by rising sea levels were relocated to new housing.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 27, 202005:15 min
View from above of Hallig islands at Landunter

Will Germany's tiny vanishing islands survive rising seas?

Regular flooding could help Germany's tiny Hallig islands to survive rising sea levels.
Nature and EnvironmentJanuary 14, 2020
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Villages in self-help mode

15 villages came together as a community to defy the extreme drought in their region.
Nature and EnvironmentJanuary 2, 202009:01 min
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2019: The year of climate consciousness

There was plenty of bad news for the climate, but 2019 was also the year millions of people were galvanized into action.
Nature and EnvironmentDecember 27, 2019
Waves crashing against coastal defenses

Letting the ocean in to protect coastlines

Humans have long fought the sea to gain coastal land. In an era of rising ocean levels, the tug-of-war enters a new era.
Nature and EnvironmentDecember 23, 2019
Grönland Eisberg schmilzt in Kulusuk

Rapid Greenland ice loss to amplify sea level rise

The world's second-largest ice sheet is declining seven times quicker than in the 1990s, according to a new UK study.
Nature and EnvironmentDecember 10, 2019
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German Baltic Sea coast under threat

Rising sea levels threaten to split the island of Usedom in two. Sand dunes could prevent that.
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 28, 201904:20 min
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Coastal residents in danger

According to a recent study, rising sea levels could displace as many as 340 million people by 2050.
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 28, 201901:39 min
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Eco India - The Environment Magazine

Rising sea levels affect more than a billion people. What can be done to protect coastlines?
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 28, 201926:05 min
A group of rescuers

Ecuador's Guayaquil shows resilience in the face of adversity

Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, is among the most vulnerable coastal areas in the world.
Nature and EnvironmentOctober 27, 20198 images
A sea turtle pictured underwater trying to bite a plastic cup

Eco Check: Marine life

The DW Eco Check brings you the key facts on the state of our oceans.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 27, 201901:23 min
DW Eco Africa: Sylvana Antat carries out underwater research in the Seychelles

Saving coral reefs in the Seychelles

After many of the Seychelles' coral reefs died, the island nation is on a mission to save its marine ecosystem.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 27, 201904:53 min
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Ocean Deep - Mountain high

The IPCC report on the oceans and the cryosphere sets out dire consequences for life on our planet.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 26, 201929:59 min
Slum surrounded by water in Manila, Philippines

Manila: fleeing rising water levels

Rising sea levels threaten the existence of many slum-dwellers in Manila.
BusinessSeptember 13, 201905:19 min
Tourists on the Greek island of Santorini watch the sun rise (photo: picture-alliance/robertharding/M. Parry)

How much is too much?

Santorini struggles with tourism, sea levels are destroying Kenya's historic sites and glaciers are disappearing.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 25, 201929:59 min
North Uist

How rising sea levels will impact the Hebrides

A new art installation in the remote Hebridean islands aims to show the impact of climate change on low-lying parts of the Scottish coast. The artwork, named "Lines," uses strips of light activated by tides to mark how high the sea will rise in the future if global warming continues unabated. Jack Foster reports from North Uist, Scotland.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 25, 201904:19 min
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India's disappearing island

Rising sea levels and erosion are causing the island of Ghoramara in eastern India to disappear.
December 12, 201801:52 min
A man sitting in a canoe navigating the flooded streets of Jacksonville in Florida (photo: Getty Images/S. Rayford)

World in Progress: What's at stake?

How are the Florida Keys preparing for storms, what's at stake at climate summit COP24 & new ways to help the homeless.
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 28, 201829:59 min
Hong Kong protest against new housing

Hong Kong protests over artificial islands

Thousands of people turn out against a plan to build up to 400,000 homes on reclaimed land off the island of Lantau.
SocietyOctober 14, 2018