Environment & Energy

How is it possible that so many scientific studies continued to use assumed sea level based on geoid models, when more accurate, global sea level measurements had been available for at least twenty years? This may have been due to the fact that most prominent studies were conducted by Western scientists, who were accustomed to the reliable results of geoid models in their own regions. As geoid assumptions worked relatively well, they may not have realized the need to use direct sea level measurements in their analyses. This assumption has led to an underestimation of coastal exposure in these studies, especially at the coasts of South-East Asia and the Indo-Pacific.