Sea Level Rise
Water expands as it warms. Therefore, sea level will rise as the top few hundred meters of the oceans warm and swell. Meltwater from polar and mountain glaciers is another potential source of sea level rise.
The oceans, which cover 71% of the Earth’s surface, warm slowly in response to greenhouse warming because it takes a long time to heat their great mass. But measurements indicate that the oceans are warming, and projections suggest that the warming will continue for many centuries.
Sea level is currently rising at a rate of 1/10 inch per year. Due to the CO2 already in the atmosphere, sea level is projected to continue rising for several centuries. Projections for the year 2100 show great uncertainty, ranging from several inches to nearly three feet. The impacts of rising sea level include loss of coastal ecosystems, flooding of cities, displacement of coastal inhabitants, and increased vulnerability to storm surges. And the effects would be magnified if the frequency of severe storms increases, as some climate models project.
Wealthy countries, such as the United States, will be much better able to adapt to sea level rise than developing nations that lack the resources to build new coastal protections and infrastructure.
 |
Visit the Marian Koshland Science Museum to learn more.
A press of a button reveals that land that could be flooded if the sea level rises and the potential responses that humans might make to save that flooded land. |
| 
