The Rising Seas…A tale of the deep blue.

By: Mike Crewe

Sea LevelsTerminologyMelting IceGlobal WarmingThe MoonHow Much is it Really Rising?Effects on LandFuture DamageWhat we can do. http://www.flickr.com/photos/

10085373@N08/1876984873/

JargonIce Age – Period of time where large scale Ice sheets

exist in the Northern and Southern HemisphereGlacier – Big, slow moving, mass of Ice.Ice Sheet – Large amount of Glacier Ice (>20,000

miles²)Ice Shelf – Glacier/Ice sheet that flows into the waterSea Ice – Frozen ocean waterAlbedo – an objects ability to diffusely reflect lightKing Tide/Spring Tide – Very high tideNeap Tide – Very low tide

Melting IceVast majority of freshwater locked away in

Ice Sheets and Glaciers - Antarctica’s Ice sheets alone contain

enough water to raise the sea level 57 meters.

Sea Ice doesn’t raise the sea levelNorth Pole – Ice surrounded by land

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/climate/sea_level_rise.html

Antarctica – Land Surrounded by ice - More Ice keeps breaking off and melting,

less than is precipitated onto the mainland

http://www.greendiary.com/images/effect_of_global_warming_on_west_antarctic_ice_sheet_.jpg

Ekstroem Ice Shelf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shelf-ice_edge_hg.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Glacier-ice_shelf_interactions.svg

Hot things expand?Its true!Thermal Expansion – As objects absorb heat,

they expandWater Temp (° C)

Percent Volume Increase by 1° C Temp Change.

10 .0088%

20 .0207%

40 .0385%

• Water is most dense at 4° C•There’s approximately 50,000,000 cubes km of water in the surface layer of the ocean•If 1 Liter of 20° C was heated 1° C, its volume would increase by .21 mm•Translate that to the whole ocean

TidesCaused by the Moon

(and Sun)Raise and lower water

levelsSpring Tide/Neap

Tides combined with raises in sea levels = dangerous

Floods/Draughts landhttp://www.softekinc.net/images/jw_moon_yankee_rcx_color.jpg

Bay of Fundy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bay_of_Fundy_High_Tide.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bay_of_Fundy_Low_Tide.jpg

Why’s that happen?

http://www.mbgnet.net/salt/sandy/indexfr.htm

Raise per YearOcean rise changes depending on where you

areAverage about 1.8mm per yearCan change based on a number of factorsEstimated to reach values of 90-880 mm or

rise over the next century (only the latter by substantial glacier melt)

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Recent_Sea_Level_Rise_png

Damage to land

http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/rising-seas.html

Tuvalu and London In the same sinking boat.

Look Familiar?

SummaryGlaciers be meltin, yoThermal expansion of water is the leading

cause of the sea rise currentlyTides can amplify the effects of raised sea

levelsWhere would all the people displaced by

ruined land and homes go?Go green!

http://bristolgreenparty.org.uk/images/green_logo.jpg

Works CitedFlannery, T. (2005). The Weather Makers: How We Are Changing

the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth. Canada: HarperCollins.

http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/ Nov. 2008http://en.wikipedia.org/ Nov. 2008http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/

ResourceCenterPublicationsSeaLevelRiseIndex.html Nov. 2008http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/climate/

sea_level_rise.html Nov. 2008http://epa.gov/climatechange/effects/coastal/slrreports.html Nov.

2008http://www.mbgnet.net/salt/sandy/indexfr.htm Nov. 2008Williams, N. 2007. New fears on sea-level rise. Current Biology,

Vol. 17, Issues 15, R572.