Sea level rise and an increased in coastal flooding is one of the most certain and the most costliest consequence of climate change. Over the last 150 years sea levels have risen by around 25cm but are projected to increase by up to 1m or more this coming century with enormous consequences for communities in low-lying coastal regions. In this talk, Prof Ivan Haigh will discuss how rates of sea-level rise have changed and accelerated over the last 150 years, describe what has caused this, driven by thermal expansion, glacier and ice sheet mass loss and terrestrial water storage, and consider its impact for small island states, densely populated deltas and coastal cities, coming right down to the scale of the Solent coast and Southampton.  Ivan Haigh is an international respected Professor in the School of Ocean and Earth Science, at the University of Southampton and based in the National Oceanography Centre, with over 20 years of experience on coastal issues and climate change. His team investigates variations in sea level from timescales of seconds to days through to long-term century-scale rises in sea level. A key thrust of his research is determining how to translate the results of these studies to local scales in practical terms, in order to aid coastal management. Since 2020 he has provided strategic input to the Environment Agency’s Thames Estuary 2100 Plan to project London from flooding over the coming century. He also supports the Environment Agency, local authorities, and other organisations across southern England in their preparation for major coastal flood incidents.