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Global Sea Level Rise Projections

Sea levels have been rising since at least 1880, mostly due to global warming causing the expansion of seawater and melting of land ice. Projections of future sea level rise have increased over time as climate models have improved, with recent studies finding a rise of 2.0 to 2.7 meters this century is plausible. Sea level rise contributions since 1993 come from ocean warming (42%), melting glaciers (21%), Greenland (15%), and Antarctica (8%). Sea levels will continue rising for centuries due to delays in the climate system.

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Taryn Mitchell
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8 views1 page

Global Sea Level Rise Projections

Sea levels have been rising since at least 1880, mostly due to global warming causing the expansion of seawater and melting of land ice. Projections of future sea level rise have increased over time as climate models have improved, with recent studies finding a rise of 2.0 to 2.7 meters this century is plausible. Sea level rise contributions since 1993 come from ocean warming (42%), melting glaciers (21%), Greenland (15%), and Antarctica (8%). Sea levels will continue rising for centuries due to delays in the climate system.

Uploaded by

Taryn Mitchell
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

At least since 1880, the average global sea level has been rising.

This is due mostly to


anthropogenic global warming that is driving the thermal expansion of seawater while melting land-
based ice sheets and glaciers.[1]This trend is expected to accelerate during the 21st century.[2]:62
Projecting future sea level has always been challenging, due to our imperfect understanding of many
aspects of the climate system. As climate research leads to improved computer models, projections
have consistently increased. For example, in 2007 the high end of Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) projections through 2099 was less than 2 feet (0.61 m),[3] but in their 2014
report the high end was considered to be about 3 feet (0.91 m).[4] A number of later studies have
concluded that 2.0 to 2.7 metres (6 ft 7 in to 8 ft 10 in) rise this century is "physically plausible".[5] The
contributions to sea level rise since 1993, based on 2018 figures, divide into ocean thermal
expansion (42%), melting of temperate glaciers (21%), Greenland(15%) and Antarctica (8%).[6]
Sea level rise will not be the same at every location on earth, with some locations even getting a
drop in sea levels. Local factors include tectonic effects, and subsidence of the land, tides, currents
and storms. Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries. Because of long response times for
parts of the climate system, it has been estimated that we are committed to a sea-level rise of
approximately 2.3 metres (7.5 ft) within the next 2,000 years for each Celsius degree of temperature
rise.[7]

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