(CNN) It was less than two years ago that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its all-encompassing assessment on the current state of climate change research and made projections for the future climate of our planet.

According to the latest from NASA, however, the projections the panel made for a rise in global sea levels of 1 to 3 feet may already be outdated.

According to Steven Nerem of the University of Colorado, we are "locked into at least 3 feet of sea level rise, and probably more."

The planet could see as many as 20 more hurricanes and tropical storms each year by the end of the century because of climate change, according to a 2013 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This image shows Superstorm Sandy bearing down on the New Jersey coast in 2012.

It's not your imagination: Some animals -- mostly birds -- are migrating earlier and earlier every year because of warming global temperatures. Scholars from the University of East Anglia found that Icelandic black-tailed godwits have advanced their migration by two weeks over the past two decades. Researchers also have found that many species are migrating to higher elevations as temperatures climb.

Animal migration – It's not your imagination: Some animals -- mostly birds -- are migrating earlier and earlier every year because of warming global temperatures. Scholars from the University of East Anglia found that Icelandic black-tailed godwits have advanced their migration by two weeks over the past two decades. Researchers also have found that many species are migrating to higher elevations as temperatures climb.

Polar bears may be the poster child for climate change's effect on animals. But scientists say climate change is wreaking havoc on many other species -- including birds and reptiles -- that are sensitive to fluctuations in temperatures. One, this golden toad of Costa Rica and other Central American countries, has already gone extinct.

Endangered species – Polar bears may be the poster child for climate change's effect on animals. But scientists say climate change is wreaking havoc on many other species -- including birds and reptiles -- that are sensitive to fluctuations in temperatures. One, this golden toad of Costa Rica and other Central American countries, has already gone extinct.

The snows capping majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, once inspired Ernest Hemingway. Now they're in danger of melting away altogether. Studies suggest that if the mountain's snowcap continues to evaporate at its current rate, it could be gone in 15 years. Here, a Kilimanjaro glacier is viewed from Uhuru Peak in December 2010.

Mountain glaciers – The snows capping majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, once inspired Ernest Hemingway. Now they're in danger of melting away altogether. Studies suggest that if the mountain's snowcap continues to evaporate at its current rate, it could be gone in 15 years. Here, a Kilimanjaro glacier is viewed from Uhuru Peak in December 2010.

Climate change has not been kind to the world'sforests. Invasive species such as the bark beetle, which thrive in warmer temperatures, have attacked trees across the North American west, from Mexico to the Yukon. University of Colorado researchers have found that some populations of mountain pine beetles now produce two generations per year, dramatically boosting the bugs' threat to lodgepole and ponderosa pines. In this 2009 photo, dead spruces of the Yukon's Alsek River valley attest to the devastation wrought by the beetles.

Are you sneezing more often these days? Climate change may be to blame for that, too. Recent studies show that rising temperatures and carbon dioxide levels promote the growth of weedy plant species that produce allergenic pollen. The worst place in the United States for spring allergies in 2014, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America? Louisville, Kentucky

Scientists say the oceans' temperatures have risen by more than 1 degree Fahrenheit over the last century. It doesn't sound like much, but it's been enough to affect the fragile ecosystems of coral reefs, which have been bleaching and dying off in recent decades. This photo shows dead coral off the coast of St. Martin's Island in Bangladesh.

There's not a direct link between climate change and wildfires, exactly. But many scientists believe the increase in wildfires in the Western United States is partly the result of tinder-dry forests parched by warming temperatures. This photo shows a wildfire as it approaches the shore of Bass Lake, California, in mid-September.

Wildfires – There's not a direct link between climate change and wildfires, exactly. But many scientists believe the increase in wildfires in the Western United States is partly the result of tinder-dry forests parched by warming temperatures. This photo shows a wildfire as it approaches the shore of Bass Lake, California, in mid-September.

In the coming decades climate change will unleash megadroughts lasting 10 years or more, according to a new report by scholars at Cornell University, the University of Arizona and the U.S. Geological Survey. We're seeing hints of this already in many arid parts of the world and even in California, which has been rationing water amid record drought. In this 2012 photo, a man places his hand on parched soil in the Greater Upper Nile region of northeastern South Sudan.

The consequences of climate change go far beyond warming temperatures, which scientists say are melting the polar ice caps and raising sea levels. Click through the gallery for a look at 10 other key effects of climate change, some of which may surprise you.

Melting polar ice caps – The consequences of climate change go far beyond warming temperatures, which scientists say are melting the polar ice caps and raising sea levels. Click through the gallery for a look at 10 other key effects of climate change, some of which may surprise you.

Nerem said experts now think a rise in sea levels toward "the higher end of that range is more likely, and the question remains how that range might have to shift upwards."

This is startling news if you are one of the 150 million people on Earth who live near the ocean. Even if you don't live close to the sea, you probably use goods that are manufactured in plants near the water or vacation at the beach.

Even NASA is finding some of its critical infrastructure threatened by the rising seas.

There are three main causes for rising sea levels: The expansion of warmer ocean water, melting mountain glaciers, and ice loss from the massive Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

The latter of those causes has scientists at NASA the most concerned and is a key area of focus in the "intensive research effort" the agency announced on Wednesday.

One of those projects, called Oceans Melting Greenland , which goes by the intentional acronym of OMG (coincidental, right?) will spend the next six years trying to determine how the Greenland Ice Sheet is contributing to sea level rise.

Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Electricity and heat: 30.6% – Burning fossil fuels for electricity and heat is, by far, the main driver of climate change. Emissions from those sectors account for nearly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Resources Institute . These activities are the biggest climate villains, statistically speaking. Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Transportation: 14.8% – Transportation -- driving, flying and the like -- makes up nearly 15% of global climate-change pollution, according to 2012 data synthesized by WRI. It's the second-most important cause of dangerous global warming. Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Manufacturing and construction: 13.3% – Manufacturing and construction are less often discussed than transit, but they contribute nearly as much to climate change: 13.3% of emissions, WRI says. These activities are the third-biggest contributors of heat-trapping emissions. Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Agriculture: 11.1% – Likewise, our food systems are villains in the fight against climate change. Advocates say giving up meat, especially beef, would help curb greenhouse gases. Agriculture makes up 11.1% of global emissions, according to WRI. Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Other fuel combustion: 8.2% – Burning other types of fuel, including wood, accounts for 8.2% of emissions. Also included in this category are fuels burned in commercial and residential buildings, as well as burning fuel for agriculture and deep-sea fishing. Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Industrial processes: 5.8% – Industry adds 5.8% of global carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, according to WRI. Cement and aluminum production, shown here, are among the major contributors. Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Deforestation and land use changes: 5.7% – Forests trap carbon, so chopping down rainforests contributes considerably to the climate change problem. Estimates vary, but WRI says deforestation accounts for 5.7% of emissions linked to climate change. Other estimates put the number closer to 20%. Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Fugitive emissions: 5.3% – Gas flares, and other emissions associated with energy production, create 5.3% of greenhouse gas emissions. Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Waste: 3.1% – Landfills produce methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas. Our waste systems create 3.1% of global warming pollution, according to WRI. Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains Bunker fuels: 2.2% – Some emissions can't be tied to a particular country. These "bunker fuels," in industry-speak, include ships in international waters as well as international flights, according to the World Resources Institute. They account for 2.2% of climate change emissions. Hide Caption 10 of 10

The Jakobshavn Glacier , the fastest-moving glacier in Greenland, recently broke off a piece of ice large enough to cover the island of Manhattan in ice roughly 1,000 feet thick, according to the European Space Agency

The glacier drains more ice-melt from Greenland into the ocean and contributes more to sea level rise than any other feature in the Northern Hemisphere.

If the entire ice sheet in Greenland melted completely, global sea levels would rise about 20 feet, and although this total loss would probably take many centuries to occur, sea levels would rise "as much as 10 feet in a century or two," according to NASA scientist and ice expert Tom Wagner.

Many climate experts say that temperatures are rising faster than at any point in our known history and that it is largely because of human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.

NASA's increased focus on climate change and rising sea levels is not just about future projections. The agency also is demonstrating the past change in a first-of-its-kind visualization of the entire 23-year satellite record of global sea levels.

The agency is using satellite instruments so accurate, NASA Earth Science Division Director Mike Freilich said that if they were "mounted on a jetliner flying at 40,000 feet, they could detect the bump caused by a dime lying flat on the ground."

The data gathered reveal that sea levels have risen nearly 3 inches since 1992. If that doesn't sound like much, remember that a good rule of thumb is, for every inch of sea level rise, you see 100 inches of run-up inland on the coast.

But the rise is not uniform. Some places have seen sea levels rise more than 9 inches, while others, like the U.S. West Coast, have actually seen slight decreases in sea level.

But before you sell your summer home on Long Island and move to Southern California, you should know that this decrease in sea level was probably temporary. Experts say it was the result of cooler phase in a natural cycle with an unwieldy name: Pacific decadal oscillation.