MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Scientists from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Colorado suggested that acceleration had not been detected because it had been masked by a volcanic eruption.
The cataclysmic outburst temporarily blocked sunlight and cooled the planet, giving observers an artificially low starting point, researchers said.
"A consequence of this finding is that barring another major volcanic eruption, a detectable acceleration is likely to emerge from the noise of internal climate variability in the coming decade," the study reads.
Climate change has been swelling seas by changing the density of water, which expands when heated, as well as by melting glaciers. Scientists studying the phenomenon noticed how the rate of ice melting has increased in recent decades but the pace of sea level rise has remained inexplicably linear.