ATM S 111 Lecture 5: Sea Level Rise

• School: UW
• Department: Atmospheric Sciences
• Course: ATM S 111
• Professor: Casey Cathlee Hilgenbrink

Document Summary

Sea level rise: what affects sea level rise, these don"t contribute to sea level rise: Ice shelves (there are connected to ice sheets but floating on ocean: contribute only a tiny amount, permafrost. Snow cover: there do contribute to sea level rise, thermal expansion of sea water, water expands when it warms, this is the main contributor to sea level rise so far, mountain glaciers. Ice sheets (greenland and antarctica: natural influences on sea level, tides, ocean currents, winds, tectonic activity. Some locations are rising/falling: northern part of the olympic peninsula is rising, means it will experience less sea level rise than other locations, these influences + spotty data means it"s been hard to track global sea level accurately. From sticks to satellites: measuring sea level: tide gauges are measuring sticks or floats in wells, always coastal, few long records, topex-poseidon radar altimetry. Instrument emits a short radar flash and measures the time-of-flight of its reflection from earth.