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Why Texans need to know how quickly Antarctica's ice is melting

NPR | By Rebecca Hersher,

Ryan Kellman, Ashley Ahn, Alyson Hurt, Connie Hanzhang Jin, Daniel Wood, Jacob Fenton

Published April 19, 2023 at 5:01 AM EDT

Some of the fastest sea level rise in the world is happening in Galveston, Texas.

The West Antarctic ice sheet is melting rapidly because of climate change. That's driving sea level rise around the world. But some places are threatened more than others, and Texas is in the crosshairs.

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Rebecca Hersher

Rebecca Hersher (she/her) is a reporter on NPR's Climate Desk, where she reports on climate science, weather disasters, infrastructure and how humans are adapting to a hotter world.

Ryan Kellman

Ryan Kellman is a producer and visual reporter for NPR's science desk. Kellman joined the desk in 2014. In his first months on the job, he worked on NPR's Peabody Award-winning coverage of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. He has won several other notable awards for his work: He is a Fulbright Grant recipient, he has received a John Collier Award in Documentary Photography, and he has several first place wins in the WHNPA's Eyes of History Awards. He holds a master's degree from Ohio University's School of Visual Communication and a B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Ashley Ahn

Ashley Ahn is an intern for the Digital News and Graphics desks. She previously covered the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for CNN's health and medical unit and the trial of Ahmaud Arbery's killers for CNN's Atlanta News Bureau. She also wrote pieces for USA TODAY and served as the Executive Editor of her college's student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian. Recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Ahn is pursuing a master's degree in computer science at Columbia University.

Alyson Hurt

Connie Hanzhang Jin

Daniel Wood

Daniel Wood is a visual journalist at NPR, where he brings data and analyses into complex topics by paired reporting with custom charts, maps and explainers. He focuses on data-rich topics like COVID-19 outcomes, climate change and politics. His interest in tracking a small outbreak of a novel coronavirus in January 2020 helped position NPR to be among the leading news organizations to provide daily updates on the growth and impact of COVID-19 around the country and globe.

Jacob Fenton