Dhaka, March 14 -- Global sea levels rose faster than anticipated in 2024, primarily due to the expansion of ocean water as it warms, NASA reported Thursday.

A NASA-led analysis found that last year's rate of sea level rise was 0.59 centimeters per year, higher than the expected 0.43 centimeters per year, reports Xinhua.

"Every year is a little bit different, but what's clear is that the ocean continues to rise, and the rate of rise is getting faster and faster," said Josh Willis, a sea level researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

The unexpected increase was attributed to an unusual amount of ocean warming, combined with meltwater from land-based ice, such as glaciers, NASA explained.

In recent years, a...