Sea level rise and disappearing islands:myth or reality?
• How fast are sea levels rising?
• How are sea levels measured?
• Which islands are most affected?Source: Wikipedia Commons, 2006
Photograph by Shahee Ilyas
Sea level rise and disappearing islands:myth or reality?
Source: Wikipedia Commons, 2006Photograph by Shahee Ilyas
• How fast are sea levels rising?
• How are sea levels measured?
• Which islands are most affected?
How fast are sea levels rising?
Source: UNEP/GRID-Arendal, 2007UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library
Sources of sea level rise
Source: IPCC, 2007Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Trends in sea level rise
Source: IPCC, 2007
Trends in sea level rise
Source: IPCC, 2007
Projections of the future
Source: IPCC, 2007Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Projections of the future
Photo: New Scientist, 2007
‘The near coincidence of the ice acceleration with the duration of surface melting, followed by deceleration after the melting ceases, indicates that glacial sliding is enhanced by rapid migration of surface meltwater to the ice-bedrock interface.’
Zwally et al., 2002. Surface Melt–Induced Acceleration of Greenland Ice-Sheet Flow. Science, 297: 218-222.
Projections of the future
Source: UNEP, 2007State-and-trends of the environment: 1987-2007
GEO-4 Report
Trends in sea level rise
Source: IPCC, 2007
Trends in sea level rise
Source: IPCC, 2007
Long-term trends in sea levels
Source: Global Warming Art Project, 2005Fleming et al., 1998. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 163 (1-4): 327-342.Milne et al., 2005. Quaternary Science Reviews 24 (10-11): 1183-1202.
Long-term trends in sea levels
Source: Holzer, 2002Lecture notes for ‘Biology 1510’ unit, Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: Milne, 2003Reproduced in the book Underworld by Graham Hancock
Regional variation in sea level rise
Source: IPCC, 2007Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Sea level rise and disappearing islands:myth or reality?
Source: Wikipedia Commons, 2006Photograph by Shahee Ilyas
• How fast are sea levels rising?
• How are sea levels measured?
• Which islands are most affected?
Sea level rise and disappearing islands:myth or reality?
Source: Wikipedia Commons, 2006Photograph by Shahee Ilyas
• How fast are sea levels rising?
• How are sea levels measured?
• Which islands are most affected?
Tide gauges
Photo: Australian National Tidal Centre, 2006
Sea level Fine Resolution Acoustic Monitoring Equipment
SEAFRAME:
Tide gauges
Source: IPCC, 2007Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Satellite altimetry
Image: EUMETSAT, 2008
Ocean altimetry missions:
• TOPEX / Poseidon: 1992 - 2005
• Jason-1: 2001 - present
• Jason-2: Provisional launch date June 2008
Short animation of the Jason-2 satellite in action:EUMETSAT Multimedia Gallery
Source: EUMETSAT, 2008
TOPEX / Poseidon data
Source: AVISO, 2008
TOPEX / Poseidon data
Source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2008
Sea level rise and disappearing islands:myth or reality?
Source: Wikipedia Commons, 2006Photograph by Shahee Ilyas
• How fast are sea levels rising?
• How are sea levels measured?
• Which islands are most affected?
Sea level rise and disappearing islands:myth or reality?
Source: Wikipedia Commons, 2006Photograph by Shahee Ilyas
• How fast are sea levels rising?
• How are sea levels measured?
• Which islands are most affected?
Source: Cartoonstock.com, 2002
Cartoon by Dave Allen
Image: NGDC, 2006
Tuvalu
Source: Juriaanbooij.com, 2007 Photograph by Juriaan Booij
Source: Worldviewofglobalwarming.org, 2005
Photographs by Gary Braasch
SingaporeTuvalu
Image: NGDC, 2006
Source: Picturecorrect.com, 2007
Photograph by David Cheong
Sea level rise and disappearing islands:myth or reality?
• How fast are sea levels rising?
• How are sea levels measured?
• Which islands are most affected?Source: Wikipedia Commons, 2006
Photograph by Shahee Ilyas
ReferencesAUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TIDAL CENTRE, 2006. Pacific country report on sea level and climate: Their present state. Tuvalu, June 2006 [online]. Available at: http://www.bom.gov.au/ntc/IDO60033/IDO60033.2006.pdf [Accessed 17 April 2008].
BBC, 2007. Measuring sea level rise from space [online]. BBC, 31 July. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6922312.stm [Accessed 17 April 2008].
BBC, 2008. The ebb and flow of seal level rise [online]. BBC, 22 January. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7195752.stm [Accessed 12 April 2008].
EUMETSAT, 2008. Jason-2 Launch Diary [online]. Available at: http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/Media/MultimediaGallery/index.htm?l=en [Accessed 17 April 2008].
ESA, 2006. Radar altimetry tutorial [online]. Available at: http://earth.esa.int/brat/index.html [Accessed 17 April 2008].
GARY BRAASCH, 2005. World view of global warming: Rising sea levels [online]. Photographs by Gary Braasch. Available at: http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/rising-seas.html [Accessed 17 April 2008].
IPCC, 2007. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
JURIAAN BOOIJ, 2007. The Sinking Of Tuvalu [online]. Photograph by Juriaan Booij. Available at: http://www.juriaanbooij.com/ [Accessed 17 April 2008].
NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL DATA CENTRE (NGDC), 2006. Surface of the Earth [online]. Available at: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/image/2minsurface/1350/ [Accessed 17 April 2008].
NEW SCIENTIST, 2002. Warming speeds ice sheet flow in weeks. New Scientist, 7 June.
PICTURECORRECT.COM, 2007. Reflections of the Central Business District [online]. Photograph by David Cheong. Available at: http://www.picturecorrect.com/wallpaper/singapore/singapore_1024x768.htm [Accessed 17 April 2008].
ROBERT ROHDE, 2005. Post-glacial sea level rise [online]. Global Warming Art Project. Available at: http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Sea_Level_Gallery [Accessed 16 April 2008].
UNEP/GRID-Arendal, 2007. Trends in sea level, 1870-2006 [online]. UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. Available at: http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/trends-in-sea-level-1870-2006 [Accessed 17 April 2008].
WIKIPEDIA COMMONS, 2006. Malé, capital of Maldives [online]. Photograph by Shahee Ilyas. Available at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Male-total.jpg [Accessed 17 April 2008].
ZWALLY, H.J., ABDALATI, W., HERRING, T., LARSON, K., SABA, J., STEFFEN, K., 2002. Surface Melt–Induced Acceleration of Greenland Ice-Sheet Flow. Science, 297, pp. 218-222.