Title: Sea level rise - Wikipedia
Headings: Sea level rise
Sea level rise
Contents
Past changes
Measurement
Satellites
Tide gauges
Contributions
Ocean heating
Main article: Ocean heat content
Antarctica
East Antarctica
West Antarctica
Greenland
Glaciers
Main article: Retreat of glaciers since 1850
Sea ice
Land water storage
Projections
Projections for the 21st century
Long-term sea level rise
Further information: Long-term effects of global warming
By region
Effects
Further information: Regional effects of global warming
Coastal areas
Present effects
Future effects
Island nations
Ecosystems
Adaptation
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Content: Contents
1 Past changes
2 Measurement
2.1 Satellites
2.2 Tide gauges
3 Contributions
3.1 Ocean heating
3.2 Antarctica
3.2.1 East Antarctica
3.2.2 West Antarctica
3.3 Greenland
3.4 Glaciers
3.5 Sea ice
3.6 Land water storage
4 Projections
4.1 Projections for the 21st century
4.2 Long-term sea level rise
5 By region
6 Effects
6.1 Coastal areas
6.1.1 Present effects
6.1.2 Future effects
6.2 Island nations
6.3 Ecosystems
7 Adaptation
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links
Past changes
Changes in sea level since the end of the last glacial episode
Understanding past sea level is important for the analysis of current and future changes. In the recent geological past, changes in land ice and thermal expansion from increased temperatures are the dominant reasons of sea level rise. The last time the Earth was 2 °C (3.6 °F) warmer than pre-industrial temperatures, sea levels were at least 5 metres (16 ft) higher than now: this was when warming because of changes in the amount of sunlight due to slow changes in the Earth's orbit caused the last interglacial. The warming was sustained over a period of thousands of years and the magnitude of the rise in sea level implies a large contribution from the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Also, a report by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research stated that around three million years ago, levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere were similar to today's levels which increased temperature by two to three degrees Celsius and melted one third of Antarctica's ice sheets. This in turn caused sea-levels to rise 20 metres. Since the last glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago, the sea level has risen by more than 125 metres (410 ft), with rates varying from less than a mm/year to 40+ mm/year, as a result of melting ice sheets over Canada and Eurasia. Rapid disintegration of ice sheets led to so called ' meltwater pulses ', periods during which sea level rose rapidly. The rate of rise started to slow down about 8,200 years before present;