Title: Sea-level rise « World Ocean Review
Headings: 
Sea-level rise – an unavoidable threat
Loss of habitats and cultural treasures

Content: Eustatic rise results from the melting of glaciers and the discharge of these water masses into the sea. Isostatic rise, on the other hand, is caused by tectonic shifts such as the rise and fall of the Earth’s crustal plates. Thermal expansion, in turn, is caused by the expansion of seawater due to global warming. Measured against the minor changes occurring over the last 6000 years, the global sea-level rise of 18 cm over the course of the last century is considerable. Over the past decade alone, sea level rose by 3.2 cm, according to measurements taken along the coast in the last century and, since 1993, satellite monitoring of the elevation of land and water surfaces worldwide (satellite altimetry). Admittedly, these are only short periods of time, but the measurements nonetheless point to a substantial increase in the rate of sea-level rise. Experts differ in their opinions about the extent to which specific factors play a role here: Between 15 and 50 per cent of sea-level rise is attributed to the temperature-related expansion of seawater; Between 25 and 45 per cent is thought to be caused by the melting of mountain glaciers outside the polar regions; Between 15 and 40 per cent is ascribed to the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps.