Sea level has changed A LOT throughout Earth’s history

In groups, brain-storm about process that cause sea level to change (you should think of at least 4)

Modified from: http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/climateChange/general/coastal.html?src=topNav

Processes that cause sea level to change

http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/causes-of-sea-level-rise-from-climate-change_d0cf

Which process do you think is currently causing the most sea level rise?

A. Changes in terrestrial water storageB. Subsidence in coastal regionsC. Ocean circulation changesD. Warming ocean causing water to expandE. Melting of glaciers and ice sheets

Which process do you think is currently causing the most sea level rise?

A. Changes in terrestrial water storageB. Subsidence in coastal regionsC. Ocean circulation changesD. Warming ocean causing water to expandE. Melting of glaciers and ice sheets

Measured contributions vs. observed rates of sea level rise• Thermal expansion currently accounts for roughly

half of the observed sea level rise;

• While Greenland and Antarctica have the potential to contribute substantial amounts of ice (around 120m of global sea level if they both completely melted), their current contribution is dwarfed by small mountain glaciers and ice caps;

• Sea level rise that is measured with satellites and tide gauges is larger than the sum of the components. This discrepancy highlights the need for additional measurements!

http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/Author: Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Which process do you think is currently causing the most sea level rise?

Different climate scenariosIPCC 2013 report available at:http://www.climatechange2013.org/report/full-report/

While sea level changes are global, local geologic controls cause large differences in individual measurements.

We’ll learn about these local differences throughout the module.

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/