ENVIRON 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Sea Level Rise, Forebulge, Tectonic Uplift
4 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Sea Level Rise (lecture by TA)
March 26, 2015
Climate Change:
Annual average temperature change steadily going up
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases reports on climate change
Amount of carbon dioxide stabilization
Increasing sea-level rise due to thermal expansion
Lowering in carbon dioxide emissions
Effects of climate change
o Changing rain and snow patterns
o Stronger storms
o Damaged corals
o Rising sea level
o Higher temperature and more heat waves
o Changes in animal migration and life cycles
o Less snow and ice
o More droughts and wildfires
o Thawing permafrost
Two main ways sea level rises:
Melting of ice sheets and glaciers
Thermal expansion
Depletion of groundwater pumping that groundwater into ocean
Melting of ice sheets and glaciers
Ice on land going onto ocean – rises sea level
Ice sheets are going to have an effect, not icebergs already in the ocean
Thermal Expansion
Water will expand with increasing heat
Sea level rise is a site-specific phenomenon
Eustatic
o Water in the bathtub concept
o Worldwide change in sea level
Isostatic
o Takes into account land moving up and down
o Different topographic heights on Earth’s surface
Sea level rise in the Louisiana area
o Extraction of gas and oil – compaction of sediment
o Mississippi Delta prevented from flooding – doesn’t deliver sediments
Why is Alaska having a negative sea level rise?
o High area of tectonic uplift (glacial forebulge)
▪ Glacial forebulge: heaviness of glacier makes surrounding land bulge outwards
▪ When glacier is removed, the bulge sinks back down
Tides and winds vary too!
High tide + sea level rise = increases likelihood of flooding
Florida, where there aren’t must uplift and high rocky lands, it might be vulnerable to high tides
Ocean surface currents are driven by the global wind circulation system
Worldwide - 44% of people live within 150 miles within coastline
Sea level rise exacerbates large storms
Hurricanes add water to the SLR
A lot of money and public attention (ex: Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Intergovernmental panel on climate change releases reports on climate change. Annual average temperature change steadily going up. Depletion of groundwater pumping that groundwater into ocean. Ice sheets are going to have an effect, not icebergs already in the ocean. Ice on land going onto ocean rises sea level. Eustatic: water in the bathtub concept, worldwide change in sea level. Why is alaska having a negative sea level rise: glacial forebulge: heaviness of glacier makes surrounding land bulge outwards, when glacier is removed, the bulge sinks back down. High tide + sea level rise = increases likelihood of flooding. Florida, where there aren"t must uplift and high rocky lands, it might be vulnerable to high tides. Ocean surface currents are driven by the global wind circulation system. Worldwide - 44% of people live within 150 miles within coastline. A lot of money and public attention (ex: hurricane katrina and hurricane sandy) Argued that it may be a natural cycle.
