Review Article: Sea Level Rise: The Facts and the Future

Abstract

Sea level records from the Pacific are analyzed to determine the rate of long-term sea level rise and its relation to climate change. The trend is largely dependent on vertical movements of the land on which the sea level gauges are located and varies from place to place. Other obvious contributions to sea level rise come from melting of glaciers, from global warming, and from sea floor spreading. Present rate of sea level rise is about 1mm per year and is subject to a large uncertainty. Assumptions about global warming in conjunction with the greenhouse effect are critically reviewed to project possible rise of sea level in the next 50 yr. It is concluded that effects of a doubling world population within the next 40 yr will have much more disastrous consequences for our environment than potential rise of sea level.