Former President Trump on Monday night said climate change is not “the biggest threat” and claimed it would create “more oceanfront property.”
Trump made the remark during an interview with Elon Musk on the social platform X.
“The biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years … and you’ll have more oceanfront property,” Trump said, raising more concerns about nuclear proliferation.
Sea level rise is being caused by global warming. Over the next 30 years, sea levels along U.S. coastlines are expected to rise by between 10 and 12 inches, according to a 2022 federal report.
By the end of the century, the sea level could rise even higher. By the year 2100, sea levels are expected to be between 2 and 7 feet higher than they were in 2000.
More broadly, scientists have warned that more climate change is expected to lead to heat waves and more frequent and intense precipitation and droughts.
Trump has infamously and incorrectly stated climate change is a “hoax.” His campaign and prior administration largely embraced planet-warming fossil fuels and opposed regulations aimed at mitigating climate change.