evidence: That was until about 8000 years ago, when the rate of sea level rise slowed to the point that it took millennia, rather than centuries, to rise a few metres. Then in the last 2000 years, sea level rise slowed virtually to a standstill – changing by just fractions of millimetres per year over this period, Prof. Church says. [...] While a changing climate has always been part of a natural cycle throughout the Earth’s history, the accelerated warming and subsequent rise in sea level has been boosted by a human-induced rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases). Carbon emissions dating back to the industrial revolution in the early 19th century have contributed to the greenhouse effect by trapping heat from the sun that would otherwise have been reflected back into space. [...] The rule of thumb is, for every 10cm rise in sea level, you increase the frequency of these one in 100 year coastal flooding events by a factor of three, Prof. Church says. Of course, the high sea level water mark, which you could observe at places like Sydney Harbour, will be higher.