Sea Level Rise
Sea Level Rise
Climate Change causes sea level rise in two main ways. Water expands as it warms. As the globe warms up, so do the seas and as they expand the sea level rises. This is thought by scientists to be most the most dominant factor in sea level change. The second most important factor is melting land ice. Water in glaciers has been trapped as ice for thousands of years. When glaciers melt the water pours into the sea and the sea level rises. Icebergs and other types of sea ice do not cause sea level rise when they melt. Ice floats, it is less dense than water. When ice melts in a cool drink on a hot day, the drink does not overflow. In the same way, melting sea ice does not cause sea level rise. However both land and sea ice reflect most of the sunlight that falls on them back into space. When they melt the land or water underneath is a much darker colour. Darker colours absorb more of the sun’s energy (like wearing a dark t-shirt on a sunny day) and less is reflected into space. This causes the warming process to speed up. This is an example of feed back.
