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Sea Level Rise Part 1

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24 views4 pages

Sea Level Rise Part 1

Uploaded by

soumyasahoo94374
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is sea level rise?

Sea level rise, as the name implies, is an increase in the


total volume of ocean water. It results from the addition
of melting glaciers and polar ice sheets, as well as the
natural expansion of water as it warms—both
consequences of climate change, which is driven by the
burning of fossil fuels.

Types of sea level rise


Believe it or not, the sea isn’t actually level. Because
the earth itself is lumpy, the effect of gravity is uneven
around the globe, subtly pulling more water into certain
places than others. At the same time, the tides, ocean
currents, and storms also cause ocean water to “pile
up” in certain areas, leading to local variations in sea
levels. Scientists who study sea level rise—using tide
stations and satellite laser altimeters—try to account
for all these complexities to hone in on long-term
changes.
There are two types of sea level rise:
• Global mean sea level rise (also known as
absolute sea level change) is the global average
sea level compared to a fixed point, such as the
center of the earth. This is the kind of sea level rise
most related to climate change. Think of it as an
increase in the total amount of space that the
ocean takes up. (It may also be referred to
as eustatic sea level rise.)
• Relative sea level change (also known
as local or isostatic) describes the height of the
ocean’s surface compared to a specific piece of
land. Increases may be caused by the water rising
due to ocean dynamics, but it also may be that the
land is sinking.

Sea level rise data


In their staggering 2022 report, U.S. agencies,
including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), give a range of five possible
sea level rise scenarios based on future rates of
greenhouse gas emissions, featured in the sea level
rise graph below. These scientists project that
global mean sea levels will rise almost 1 foot (0.28
meter) above 2000 levels by 2050—and above 3
feet (1 meter) by 2100. This is our “intermediate”
scenario. And if we fail to take significant action on
climate change, as projected in the “high” scenario,
sea levels could rise as much as 6.6 feet (2
meters) on average by the end of the century.
Even today, with an average global sea level rise of just
1/8 of an inch every year (about 3.6 millimeters)—more
than double the yearly rate of the 20th century—we’re
seeing saltwater intrusion impact infrastructure,
agriculture, and coastal ecosystems. And again, these
rates are global averages.

In the United States, seas are rising slower in some


places like the Pacific Northwest, where tectonic plates
are shifting land upward. But they are rising much faster
on the East Coast, which should anticipate about a foot
of rise (14–21 inches or 0.36–0.54 meters) by 2050. The
western Gulf of Mexico, which is experiencing the
fastest sea level rise in the United States, should expect
19.3–27.2 inches (0.49–0.69 meters) in the next 30
years. That’s equal to the total rise in the region seen
over the past 100 years.
Projected ranges for sea level rise are reasonably tight
because in the near term, we can reliably estimate how
much carbon pollution will be released and how the
earth’s climate will respond. The range of uncertainty
grows over the longer term because absolute sea level
rise is accelerating, and pinning down the rate of
acceleration, as well as the rate of ice sheet loss, is a
complex challenge. One unknown factor is the pace at
which the world’s most polluting countries and
companies will reduce their global warming emissions.

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