Title: Sea Level Rise and Global Warming | Union of Concerned Scientists
Headings: Infographic: Sea Level Rise and Global Warming
Infographic: Sea Level Rise and Global Warming
Sea level is rising—and at an accelerating rate—especially along the US East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
Why are the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico hotspots of sea level rise?
How quickly is land ice melting?
Why is there such a large range in sea level rise projections?
How high and how quickly will sea level rise in the future?
Methodology
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Content: The rate of local sea level rise is affected by global, regional, and local factors. Along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, changes in the path and strength of ocean currents are contributing to faster-than-average sea level rise. In parts of the East Coast and Gulf regions, land is subsiding, which allows the ocean to penetrate farther inland. How quickly is land ice melting? Shrinking land ice — glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets — contributed about half of the total global sea level rise between 1972 and 2008, but its contribution has been increasing since the early 1990s as the pace of ice loss has accelerated. Recent studies suggest that land ice loss added nearly half an inch to global sea level from 2003 to 2007, contributing 75 to 80 percent of the total increase during that period. Why is there such a large range in sea level rise projections? The long-term rate of global sea level rise will depend on the amount of future heat-trapping emissions and on how quickly land ice responds to rising temperatures. Scientists have developed a range of scenarios for future sea level rise based on estimates of growth in heat-trapping emissions and the potential responses of oceans and ice. The estimates used for these two variables result in the wide range of potential sea level rise scenarios.