60 U. S. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 
little change in sea level. Since 1939 the rise has been steady, at the rate of about 
0.03 foot per year. 
At Pensacola the rise in sea level appears to have been in progress since the begin- 
ning of the observations in 1924. If we smooth the values in figure 31 by the method 
of moving means, we derive a rate of rise of about 0.015 foot per year up to 1942, after 
which the rise is about 0.04 foot per year. 
For Galveston the observations extend over a period of 40 years, and during all 
this time sea level appears to have been rising. Between 1909 and 1940 the rise was 
at the rate of about 0.015 foot per year, and since that time at the rate of about 0.05 
foot per year. 
1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 
Key West 
O3|—= 
— 
Cedar Keys _ 
== 
=— 
Pensacola 
0.0 \— 
Galveston 
Fig. 31.—Yearly sea level, Gulf coast. 
