Climate Change and Sea Level Rise : A Review of the Scientific Evidence

Sea-level rise (SLR) due to climate change is a serious global threat: the scientific evidence is now overwhelming. The rate of global sea level rise was faster from 1993 to 2003, about 3.1 mm per year, as compared to the average rate of 1.8 mm per year from 1961 to 2003 (IPCC, 2007); and significantly higher than the average rate of 0.1 to 0.2 mm/yr increase recorded by geological data over the last 3,000 years. Anthropogenic warming and SLR will continue for centuries due to the time scales associated with climate processes and feedbacks, even if greenhouse gas concentrations were to be stabilized. This paper reviews the scientific literature to date on climate change and sea level rise. There appears to be a consensus across studies that global sea level is projected to rise during the 21st century at a greater rate than during the period 1961 to 2003 and unanimous agreement that SLR will not be geographically uniform. Ocean thermal expansion is projected to contribute significantly, and land ice will increasingly lose mass at an accelerated rate. But most controversial are the mass balance loss estimates of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets and what the yet un-quantified dynamic processes will imply in terms of SLR. Recent evidence on the vulnerability of Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets to climate warming raises the alarming possibility of SLR by one meter or more by the end of the 21st century.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Dasgupta, Susmita, Meisner, Craig
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2009-05
Subjects:	ABLATION, AEROSOL EMISSIONS, ALBEDO, ALTITUDE, AMBIENT CONCENTRATIONS, ANTARCTIC TEMPERATURES, ANTARCTICA, ANTHROPOGENIC EMISSIONS, ARCTIC CLIMATE, ARCTIC GLACIERS, ATLANTIC OCEAN, ATMOSPHERE, ATMOSPHEREOCEAN GENERAL CIRCULATION, ATMOSPHERIC CLIMATE, ATMOSPHERIC CONCENTRATIONS, BAY, BRIGHTNESS, BRIGHTNESS TEMPERATURE, CALCULATION, CALVING, CARBON, CARBON CYCLE, CARBON DIOXIDE, CARBON MONOXIDE, CH4, CLIMATE, CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE CONSEQUENCES, CLIMATE CHANGE FORECASTS, CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS, CLIMATE DYNAMICS, CLIMATE INFORMATION, CLIMATE MODEL, CLIMATE MODELERS, CLIMATE MODELING, CLIMATE MODELLING, CLIMATE MODELS, CLIMATE OBSERVATIONS, CLIMATE PROJECTIONS, CLIMATE RESPONSE, CLIMATE SIMULATIONS, CLIMATE SYSTEM, CLIMATE WARMING, CLIMATE-CHANGE, CLIMATIC INFORMATION, CLIMATIC REGIMES, CLIMATOLOGY, CLOUD COVER, CLOUDS, CO2, COAST, COASTAL AREAS, COASTAL HABITATS, COASTAL PROTECTION, COASTAL REGIONS, COASTAL ZONE, CONTINENTAL-SCALE CLIMATE, CONVERGENCE, CRYOSPHERE, CYCLONES, DEEP OCEAN, DRAINAGE, DRAINAGE BASIN, DRAINAGE SYSTEM, EARTH, EARTHS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECOSYSTEMS, EMISSION, EMISSION SCENARIOS, EMISSIONS INTENSITY, EMISSIONS SCENARIOS, ENERGY BALANCE, ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, EROSION, EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE, FRESHWATER, FROST, GCM, GEODESY, GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGICAL DATA, GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, GEOPHYSICS, GHG, GIS, GLACIAL MELT, GLACIER AREA, GLACIERS, GLACIOLOGY, GLOBAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE, GLOBAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE CHANGE, GLOBAL CLIMATE, GLOBAL CLIMATE MODEL, GLOBAL MEAN SURFACE TEMPERATURE, GLOBAL MEAN TEMPERATURE, GLOBAL SURFACE TEMPERATURE, GLOBAL TEMPERATURE, GLOBAL TEMPERATURE CHANGE, GLOBAL WARMING, GRAVIMETRY, GREENHOUSE GAS, GREENHOUSE GAS CONCENTRATIONS, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, GREENHOUSE GASES, GREENHOUSE WARMING, GROUND ICE, HEATING, HFCS, HUMAN ACTIVITY, HYDROCHLOROFLUOROCARBONS, HYDROFLUOROCARBONS, HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES, ICE, ICE AGE, ICE CAP, ICE CAPS, ICE CORES, ICE COVER, ICE DENSITY, ICE DISCHARGE, ICE DYNAMICS, ICE EXTENT, ICE FIELDS, ICE MASS, ICE MASSES, ICE SHEET, ICE SHEET MODEL, ICE SHEETS, ICE SHELF, ICE SHELVES, ICE STREAM, ICE STREAMS, ICE THICKNESS, ICE TYPES, ICE VELOCITY, ICE VOLUME, ICE-ALBEDO FEEDBACK, ICE-CORE, ICE-SHEET, ICEBERGS, IMAGES, IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, INTERPOLATION, INUNDATION, IPCC, LAKES, LAND AREA, LAND ELEVATION, LAND SURFACE, LATITUDE, MAPPING, MELTING, METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS, METHANE, MICROWAVE, MOUNTAIN GLACIERS, N2O, NITROGEN, NITROGEN OXIDES, NITROUS OXIDE, NORTHERN CANADA, NOX, OCEAN HEAT, OCEAN PRODUCTIVITY, OCEAN TEMPERATURES, OCEANS, PERFLUOROCARBONS, PERMAFROST, PFCS, PLATEAU, POINT, POLAR ICE, POLAR REGIONS, PP, PRECIPITATION, PRESERVATION, RADAR, RAINFALL, RANGES, REGIONAL CLIMATE, RESERVOIRS, SALINITY, SALTWATER INTRUSION, SATELLITE DATA, SATELLITE IMAGERY, SATELLITE IMAGES, SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE, SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING, SEA, SEA ICE, SEA LEVEL RISE, SEA WATER, SEA-LEVEL, SEA-LEVEL RISE, SEAS, SEASONAL TEMPERATURE, SEAWATER, SEVERE WEATHER, SF6, SNOW, SNOW ACCUMULATION, SNOW COVER, SNOW DEPTH, SNOW MELT, SNOW PACK, SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT, SNOWFALL, SNOWMELT, SO2, SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, SPECIES, SPRING, STORM SURGE, STORM SURGES, SUBLIMATION, SULFUR, SULFUR DIOXIDE, SULFUR HEXAFLUORIDE, SURFACE AREA, SURFACE ELEVATION, SURFACE MELT, SURFACE PROCESSES, SURFACE RUNOFF, SURFACE TEMPERATURE, SURFACE TEMPERATURES, SURGE FLOODING, SURGE HEIGHT, SURVEY AREA, TEMPERATURE, TEMPERATURE CHANGES, TEMPERATURE INCREASES, TEMPERATURE RISE, TEMPERATURE SENSITIVITY, TEMPERATURE VARIATION, TEMPORAL CHANGES, TEMPORAL VARIABILITY, TEMPORAL VARIATIONS, TRACE GASES, TROPICAL CYCLONES, VALUE OF CLIMATE SENSITIVITY, VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, WARMER CLIMATE, WARMING CLIMATE, WATER RUNOFF, WATER TEMPERATURES, WEST, WETLAND, WETLAND LOSS, WIND, WIND SPEEDS,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2009/05/10567848/climate-change-sea-level-rise-review-scientific-evidence-climate-change-sea-level-rise-review-scientific-evidence https://hdl.handle.net/10986/18382
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!