When it comes to swelling oceans that threaten coastal communities around the world, it's bad, and it's going to get worse. Sea levels are rising faster than they have in the last three millennia, and that rate continues to accelerate due to the burning of fossil fuels, according to new research published Monday. "Our study is for sea level what the now well-confirmed famous 'hockey stick' diagram was for global temperature."—Stefan Rahmstorf, Potsdam University