Title: Rising Waters
Headings: RISING WATERS
RISING WATERS
How NASA is Monitoring Sea Level Rise
SATELLITE DATA: 1993-PRESENT
Rate of Change
NASA Studies All Aspects of Sea Level Rise
Humanity, not one agency, not one country, not one continent, but . . . humanity has been monitoring global sea level from space with exquisite accuracy for more than 28 years.
Four Impacts of Sea Level Rise
4. Sea Level Rise Around the World
1. Rising Seas Cause Blue-Sky Flooding
2. Warmer Water, Dropping Land, Rising Seas
3. Sea Level Rise on NASA's Doorstep
4. Sea Level Rise Around the World
1. Rising Seas Cause Blue-Sky Flooding
2. Warmer Water, Dropping Land, Rising Seas
3. Sea Level Rise on NASA's Doorstep
4. Sea Level Rise Around the World
Rising Sea Level: Meltwater from Ice
Rising Sea Level: Thermal Expansion
Complicating Sea Level: Ocean Circulation
Complicating Sea Level: Solid Earth Dynamics
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Future Sea Level

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Rising Sea Level: Meltwater from Ice
About two-thirds of global sea level rise is due to meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets, the vast expanses of ice that cover Antarctica and Greenland. In Greenland, most of the ice loss stems from warming air temperatures that melt the surface of the ice sheet, as well as calving from the glaciers that empty into the sea. In Antarctica, however, year-round freezing temperatures mean that the surface of the interior ice sheet doesn't melt. Instead, most of the ice is lost as warmer ocean temperatures join warm air temperatures to eat away at the floating ice shelves at the ends of glaciers in West Antarctica. This causes the glaciers to speed up, and more ice to flow – and melt – into the sea. Your browser does not support the video tag. Warmer air temperatures can melt the top of ice sheets from above, while warm ocean waters eat away at the ends of glaciers and ice shelves where they meet the sea. Credit: NASA
NASA measures this change from space.