Climate Change and Sea Level Rise - How Are They Related?

Global warming is the increase in the earth'sworld. Glaciers and ice sheets cover 10% of all land
near-surface temperature. Average globalarea on the earth. In the 20th century more ice has
temperature has increased by around 0.74°Cmelted than has been replaced. A well-known
between the start and the end of the 20th century.example is the case of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. Over
This change in the earth's climate has had numerousthe past century, the mountain's glacial ice has
effects. Perhaps on of the most significant has beendecreased by 80% and is likely to disappear
the consequence it has had on the level of thecompletely in the next decade at the current rate of
oceans.loss. A similar effect has been observed in Alaska,
There are three major processes by which humanthe Himalayas, and the Andes. This melting of glaciers
induced climate change directly affects sea level.and ice-sheets has contributed another 2.5cm
Water, like all other fluids, expands at highertowards a rise in the sea level in the second half of
temperatures. The impact of global warming andthe 20th century.
climate change will be to increase the temperature ofThe final contributor will be the loss of ice mass from
water at the surface of the oceans and, over theGreenland and Antarctica. It was previously thought
centuries, at depth. The water will expand andthat this process would take many century to
contribute to a rise in the sea level. In the secondmillennia to occur but at the start of a century that is
half of the 20th century itself, thermal expansion hasprojected to become much warmer over its course,
caused the sea level to rise by 2.5cm.the contribution from this ice towards a rise in the
Increase in the earth's average temperature hasoceans' levels is likely to be significant.
resulted in the melting of masses of ice around the