3.7  Sea levels are rising

Sea levels are rising with dangerous impacts

There were bushfires burning all over the world on 3 Aug 2021. This shows that temperature increases are making an impact almost everywhere in the world.

Sea Level rise is accelerating and doubled in the period 2006-2018 compared to the whole of the previous 40 years.  It is rising for 2 reasons. Melting glaciers and melting polar ice caps are adding water to the world’s oceans. Warmer water occupies more volume than cool water. About half of the sea level rise is because the water is warming and expanding.

We know that sea levels will continue to rise up to about 1 meter under a high emissions scenario, and will continue to rise, even if and when we get temperature under control, because there is a long time delay in the system. So sea levels will continue to rise for at least hundreds of years to thousands of years. The more we can slow down the temperature rise and sea level rise, the better.

Reference: Information from the Special IPCC Briefing with Professor Lesley Hughes – organised by Groundswell Giving - Thu 2nd Sep 2021, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm AEST