Question+1

=How do we define sea level rise - doesn't sea level change all the time? =

By Christian And Alex
 We can define sea level rising by using a measurement called the above mean sea level (AMSL).It will help us track sea levels so we can predict what future sea levels will be. Sea levels are rising all the time but now they are rising faster and at rapid rates. We may not be able to distinguish it from the tides coming in and out because the tide levels are not equal. It is now changing from the normal shifts - it is rising twice as fast. There are many theories to why and how to prevent it.

Sea level rise is the rising of the sea. Sea level rise is fueled by global warming. The ice melts from the heating of the sun. This occurs when the glaciers melt it turns into water. This water flows off the land and into the ocean. The sea level is changing all the time. It is changing more because of global warming. Since global warming is continuing each day that means the ice is melting each day. When it melts it flows into the ocean and then the water goes into the ocean. That is when the sea level rises.

This is a good link that will help to find future sea level rise in New Jersey.

Cooper, Matthew J.P., Michael D. Beevers, and Michael Oppenheimer. __Future Sea__ __Level Rise and the New Jersey Coast__. Nov. 2005. 8 Apr. 2009 <[]>.


 * By Nicole Phelan - ACS Cobham**

What is the issue? Although the concept of sea level rise might appear to be quite straightforward, many people underestimate the seriousness of this global issue. Currently, 98% of all water on Earth is in the oceans. The majority of the other 2% is found in glaciers; much of it in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. At the peak of the ice age—21,000 or so years ago—a much greater portion of the Earth’s water was locked inside glaciers and the level of the world’s oceans was nearly 125 meters below current sea level. (Douglas, B.C.) As the Earth’s temperatures increased over the millennia, water from the melting glaciers filled the oceans—thereby increasing the sea level—and coastlines were pushed back and redefined. This process continues today, though the rate of sea level rise appears to be accelerating coincidentally with increases in world population and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Compared to other spectacular geophysical events such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes, the recent and near-term projections for sea level rise may at first glance appear to be non-threatening. After all, the average sea level for most populated regions of the world is increasing at a rate of only a few millimetres per year. However, faced with the reality that 50% of the world’s population currently live in the “critical interface” between land and water (Douglas, B.C.); 13 of the world’s 20 largest cities are located on the coast (Leatherman, Stephen P.); 250 million people are living within 5 metres of high tide; and 150 million people are living within 1 metre of high tide (White, Neil), global sea level rise will certainly have an increasing and devastating social, environmental and economic impact on hundreds of millions of people in many countries around the globe. In fact, the sea level rise phenomenon is already exacerbating the destruction wreaked by other natural disasters (e.g. the 2004 Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina).

 Upsula glacier in Patagonia, South America—the upper photograph was taken in 1928, and the lower one in 2004 Source: Woodward, John


 * __Sources:__**

Douglas, Bruce C., Michael S. Kearney and Stephen P. Leatherman. __Sea Level Rise History and__ __Consequences__. San Diego: Academic Press, 2001.

Leatherman, Stephen P. __Island States at Risk: Global Climate Change, ____Development and Population __ __Journal of Coastal Research. Special__ __Issue, No. 24)__ . Virginia: Coastal Education & Research Foundation, 1997. Murphy, Glenn. __A Kid’s Guide to Global Warming__. Malaysia: Weldon Owen Pty Ltd, 2008.

White, Neil. “Sea Level Rise.” CSIRO. 22 April 2008. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial  Research Organisation. 27 April 2009 < [] >

Woodward, John. __Eyewitness Climate Change__. New York: DK Publishing, 2008.