Sea Level Decline

Climate policy makers have determined a 2 degree Celsius increase as a target for global warming. According to scientists if we stay within this target, sea levels will rise only a few meters, which would be manageable.

Besides the direct effect of sea level rise, coastal flooding may also be a more prevalent and severe issue. For example, “sea level rise of two feet, without any changes in storms, would more than triple the frequency of dangerous coastal flooding throughout most of the Northeast” (Horton 374). The higher seas would increase the initial level, so that the flooding level would be much greater, especially during hurricanes. Recent hurricanes have become a good example of how much damage can occur to both humans and animals. For example, much of the coastal infrastructure is in danger of damage, which can affect commerce and the public’s health and safety: “In New York State, two feet of sea level rise is estimated...To flood or render unusable 212 miles of road, 77 miles of rail, 3,647 acres of airport facilities, and 539 acres of runways” (Horton 379). This loss of infrastructure may occur in every coastal Northeast state, especially in the south. In these southern Northeast states, the land is flat, which makes them easier to inundate with water. In addition to infrastructure, transportation is also at risk, with much of the major highways (I-95) and trains (Amtrak) at risk of coastal damage (Horton 380). More affected by sea level rise, ecosystems near water may be permanently damaged in upcoming years, and according to Rob Deconto, a climate scientist at University of

Climate change is affecting humans every day, and yet most of us have found that every region of the globe is affected in some way or another. For us here in San Diego, California, in the Western Hemisphere, on the west coast, United States, North America, that impact is felt mostly with rising sea temperatures and rising sea levels. There are noticeable predictions that by 2050, rising sea levels here will rise as stated: “"At least a 16 inch sea level rise is expected in San Diego, Ca by 2050, with a projected rise of 50% by the turn of the century."

The Sea Level has increased over the past 200 years as average global temperatures have increased. The rise is due to two factors, the freshwater being added to the oceans from ice melt in the cryosphere, and the thermal expansion of the oceans due to rises in sea temperature. The sea level has risen 6 to 8 inches in the past 100 years. It is predicted to rise another 50 to 90 centimeters in the next century. As the sea level rises it’s jeopardizing rapidly growing coastal communities, which causes evacuation in some areas causing people to lose their homes. Sea level is the effect

Decades of research suggest that sea-levels are rising, and will continue to rise as a result of climate change. This rise will have the most immediate and significant impact on

All over the world, sea levels will rise, perhaps by as much as 20 to 40 cm, by the beginning of the next century. Higher sea levels will threaten the low-lying coastal areas of the world, such as the Netherlands and Bangladesh. Consequently, millions of people will have to leave their homes and large areas of farmland will be ruined because of floods.

According to the American Bar Association, "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has concluded that during the 20th century, sea levels rose some 5-9 inches throughout the world."(Gresham, Imwalle). This not only puts costal communities at risk of losing their homes, but also cause damage to infrastructures worth millions of dollars. The rise of sea level due to climate change has put Bay Area officials hard at work to come up with different plans on how to deal with this in the future.

Rising sea levels have caused tide lines to be increased by approximately 9.15 feet (Freedman, #3). This increase in tide makes all surrounding land very susceptible to damage, if a hurricane was to occur. Since studies show that during normal waters, tides can get this high, there is an approximation that water can reach up to 100 feet of just wave water in the event of a hurricane (Carey, #1). Also, because of global warming, sea levels are expected to rise an additional 2 feet in the next century (Freedman, #4). This is due to the melting of icebergs, ice caps, and arctic snow that eventually ends up in the oceans. With this additional 2 foot rise, coastal waters are expected to hit an all-time high. In addition to the rising of the tides, the actual area of the ocean will expand, causing any coastal industries, neighborhoods, or developments, to be highly susceptible of being underwater by the next century.

This article can effect society in different ways. In a more specific perspective, a rise in sea level will cause a major tragedy in states and cities that are at or below sea level. Furthermore, this can cause hundreds and thousands of deaths due to the heavily populated areas. Places like New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Washington D.C., will be underwater. There is also more general effect a rise in sea level can cause.

Considering the risk of coastal flooding, the cities that would be high in cost of damage would be Miami, New York, New Orleans, Tampa, and Boston. New York however, could possibly see a rise in sea level of 4 feet by 2100. CNN states, this could allow hundred thousand of people to be underwater in just New York City. Not only could Sea-Level rising affect U.S Cities, but the U.S as a whole. According to Brian Owens from New Scientist, it was “found that a 1.8-metre rise by 2100, near the top end of NOAA’s predictions, could lead 13.1 million people being displaced, more than three times as many as indicated by current populations.” Occurrences like this is where Coastal Resilience would take place. Coastal resilience is the ability a community has to bounce back from dangerous events. Understanding how a community responds to such events, will help them understand what to do next in preparation of another

coastal cities. The Gulf and southern Atlantic Coast could be possibly be hit hard, cities like Tampa, Miami, New Orleans, and Virginia Beach. Those cities could also lose more than 10% of land by then. With 40.5 million people living in the coastal municipalities, twenty of those cites had more than 300,000 inhabitants. “Impacts from sea-level rise could be erosion, temporary flooding, and permanent inundation.” (Weiss, 2011.) Erosion is when continents are continually losing sediments to the sea, the sediments slowly fill the ocean basin, pushing sea level up. (Mylroie, 2012.) A study was done on the effect of the future sea level rising on the propagation of tides in the Patagonian Shelf. The effect of flooding of low lying areas was studied, the coastal morphological features and the sense of tidal wave propagation in the southern Hemisphere, and inundation does not significantly modify the solution on the Patagonian Shelf, but in the Northern Argentinean Shelf the results are changed. The most important changes to the characteristic of tides can occur when sea level rising. (Clara, 2015.) Studies shows that coastal cities are more vulnerable than others. (Hughes, 2015.) For example, like the Atlantic coast the sea level will rise three to four times faster than global average. “Everything we see shows that, if you look in the past, each increment of warmth seems to correlate with increasingly higher sea level.” (Sumner,

Rising sea levels can also erode shorelines, which will in turn make flooding more severe. Another severe effect of rising sea levels is saltwater intrusion. Saltwater intrusion occurs when saltwater intrudes into groundwater, contaminating drinking supplies, irrigation supplies, and agricultural fields (“Sea Level”). As the ocean temperatures continue to rise, sea level rises with it as seen in Figure 1. This graph shows the rate at which sea levels are rising as ocean temperatures rise. Rising sea level can be contributed to two factors, thermal expansion and melting of sea ice. Since the 1970’s, the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean around the North Pole has been shrinking, and getting thinner. The warmer water and atmosphere causes the Arctic sea ice to melt more than usual during the summer months. Not only will the melting of sea ice have

The rising sea levels are associated with almost every region of the U.S., besides those on tectonic plates or landlocked regions. According to the report, most regions have a large majority of their gross domestic product, GDP, and population living in costal counties. This is a problem for areas like the South East which has thirty six percent of it’s inhabitants living on the coast and thirty three percent of its GDP coming from its coasts. “In Florida, because of the porous limestone on which the major southern cities are built, even modest sea level rise comes at a significant economic cost.”1 Within the next half a century it reasonable to assume, based on the evidence from the report, that between fifteen and twenty three billion dollars of existing property in the South East will be submerged by the rising sea levels. Furthermore, there is a “1-in-100 chance that more than $682 billion in property will

One of the first indicators of global warming when it was first discovered and discussed was the acknowledgment of rising sea levels. In many climate change and apocalypse movies the rising of the ocean is the downfall of the population of the planet. The topic about the rising sea levels was not always indisputable. When the topic of climate change was first brought up it was mostly known as global warming and connected to the greenhouse effect. The notion of oceans raising above sea level was once widely seen as controversial. New York Times articles from 1980s until now show the development of the debate on rising sea levels through time and the the further development of science. There has been a change in The New York Times reporting on the issues of rising sea levels caused by the climate change from doubt about it in the 1980’s to confirmation of the problem in 2010’s.

Abstract—Sea level rise due to change in climate is a severe global threat; Flooding, storm surges, and other consequences of the rise in ocean water level have a widespread adverse effects on coastal cities across the globe. Consistent rise in ocean levels have occurred throughout the world for thousands of years. The data from tide gauge observations and global satellite imagery, assisted us to determine the rates and causes of rise in sea-level. On analyzing the data, it affirms the need for long-term reliable observation to estimate accurately the regional changes furthermore to improve our ability to estimate the future changes in ocean levels. Even if the best preventive measures are taken, ocean levels will continue to rise for many decades to come, due to the large time ranges associated with the climatic evolution even if the temperature rise is stabilized. Information from various scientific studies is requried to understand sea level rise (SLR), this review emphasizes the problems and consequences this rise in sea level is creating by projecting the Ocean water levels in the future under the present global conditions.