Sea level is on the rise but how much of it is natural and how much is man-made? This article talks about that:
1) What's the big deal about 5 inches of water?
2) Who cares? Why should we care?
3) How can we control this?
4) Who does this affect the most?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-data-reveal-stunning-acceleration-of-sea-level-rise/
Please Mark This:
ReplyDeleteRising sea levels is a huge problem world wide. The constant rise in temperature is causing the rise in sea levels and a rise in anomalous, strange weather storms. In Barrie we are not too concerned about the oceans because there aren't any within more than 1000km range. However, for many people around the world the rising ocean levels is an issue and it will affect Barrie if the level continue to rise at an exponential rate. As the ocean levels increase, the population must start to move inward from the coasts as the water is starting to take over the land there. Some of the most heavily populated areas in Canada and the United States are on the coasts. This means that a large amount of people are being forced to move inward and abandon the coastal land. So now there are more people living on less land. We discussed yesterday how our ever growing population is becoming an issue world wide. If the population keeps growing at an exponential rate, and the rising water grows at an exponential rate then the entire world will be at a crisis and I fully believe that wars will start everyday over food, land, and water. In Canada we have much more land to try to deal with this, but places in Africa, Asia and parts of Europe will have to make some big decisions in order for everyone to have shelter. 5" of water may not seem like much, but when 5" is added to storms that we've seen before such as hurricanes, tsunamis and other catastrophic events, that can make a huge difference on how far you need to be away from the coat to stay safe. All of the existing water walls to try and prevent the waves from destroying cities will be too short, allowing water to get into the cities. A Business Insider reports the cities most at risk if the sea levels rise 0.5m by 2070. Places in India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Florida, New York, Bangladesh, Japan, Egypt, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Indonesia and The Netherlands are some at risk areas that will lose trillions of dollars in assets and millions of people. The list of these places is enough to tell you that this is a World Issue. It's an economic issue, it's an environmental issue, it's a political issue and it's a social issue. If the nations can't decide to lower overall pollution we will be in a world crisis. I believe that the whole world should care because this will have an impact everywhere. The only way I think we can attempt to fix and control this is to stop our pollution habits. All of the world needs to work together to make an agreement about how to lower our pollution and rising temperatures. This change is important; we can not all live on this planet if the water level rise as much as predicted.
https://weather.com/science/environment/news/20-countries-most-risk-sea-level-rise-20140924
http://www.businessinsider.com/cities-exposed-to-rising-sea-levels-2014-4
Mark please,
ReplyDeleteA decade of studies, involving three teams of scientists, charted an “acceleration” in sea level rise. The rise, directly related to climate change, is inducing and worsening flooding in coastlines worldwide. These scientists are 95% certain that at least half of more than 5 inches of sea level rise detected during the 20th century was a direct result of global warming. The increasing concentrations of pollution in the atmosphere trap heat, thus glaciers and ice sheets melt into seas. By trapping heat, the rising concentrations of atmospheric pollution are causing glaciers and ice sheets to melt into seas and increase sea level.
Aside from flooding, there is a plethora of consequences tied to melting glaciers and ice sheets. One obvious consequence of the melting of glaciers is the loss of natural freshwater storage in frozen form, which makes up about 70% of the Earth’s freshwater. This will cause a major societal impact in many parts of the world. Not to mention, the negative effects of melting glaciers on ecosystems, especially phytoplankton (which are very important because they remove carbon dioxide from seawater and product oxygen). Also melting glaciers disrupts thermohaline circulation, which depends on water densities (i.e. salt water is more dense than fresh water)—this has implications of its own.
Contrary to what people may believe, a 5-inch rise of sea level is significant. If pollution continues (note that this is worst-case scenario) and if seas respond to the warming by rising at the fastest likely rates, sea levels could rise over 4 feet within this century. This would destroy coastal communities, forcing them inland. This is significant because the population is projected to continue growing at its current rate. Thus, with a lack of land, fresh water, and disrupted water and food cycles, we will face great hardships.
This world issue is of environmental, social, political, and economic status. It is not one that we can choose to ignore; the consequences are too immense! This is not an issue that a select few can resolve. This issue requires the world uniting to save our Earth—as Mr. Lucas says; we’ve only got one.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4747089/
http://scied.ucar.edu/longcontent/melting-arctic-sea-ice-and-ocean-circulation
I agree that the loss of fresh water is a major consequence of the melting glaciers. Humans have only a small portion of fresh water available, and it is constantly being taken advantage of. By the glaciers melting, we are losing fresh water, as it is mixing with the salt water and in the end we end up with even less fresh water than we already have. Also, the rising sea level is very concerning and should be taken seriously.
DeleteI agree that the loss of fresh water is a huge problem. It could possibly start a world war. It will be a hard issue to fix, and I believe everyone needs to start caring more.
DeleteI agree that the loss of fresh water is a huge problem. It could possibly start a world war. It will be a hard issue to fix, and I believe everyone needs to start caring more.
DeleteI also agree the melting of glaciers and loss of fresh water are major problems and consequences we as humans have created. I also agree that we (developed countries) take advantage of our resources that we should be concerned for.
DeleteI agree with the points chelsea brought up. The issue of the rising sea level is something that is detrimental to our world. This issue does not just involve humans, but this could take a huge impact on the wildlife in areas, which would make this situation even worse.
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ReplyDeletePlease mark
ReplyDeleteSea level rises have two main contributing factors. The greatest one being global warming which is the increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere induced by greenhouse gases. Some natural factors such as glaciers and ice melting result in sea level rises. Winters made from evaporated seawater balance out the melting but recent research has shown that the higher temperatures attributed by global warming have led to too much melting along with later winters and earlier springs completely unbalancing thermal expansion vs. evaporation for the ocean thus causing the sea levels to immensely rise. So what’s the big deal about 5 inches of water? Rising water of the oceans can be a world issue because 1. It effects the environment of the whole world. Places will be drowned by long-term sea level rises. This will then affect population. Which I guess also kind of makes this a societal issue. 2. This issue clearly affects the economy and also makes it a political issue because fixing the damage cause by floods or other tropical storms costs us money. Further, some places are well known for their oceanic surroundings so the sea plays a big role in their economy but with concerning water rises, those places will soon be underwater. The places most in risk are the countries that care most about this problem. Nevertheless, I think we should all care because this disturbs everyone. 5 inches may seem small but that number is going to increase drastically so as the seawater flows farther inland millions of people will be forced to relocate their homes. And when the massive tropical storms hit they will completely destroy everything. There won’t be a lot of places for the billion of people to live. And the sea coming inland will also destroy agricultural soils and other environments for other bio diversities, like plants.
Sea levels rising will eventually affect every single living thing on earth. Prediction of how fast global warming is affecting the sea level and how high the sea levels will rise has varied a lot over the years. But it’s clear it is going to continue to accelerate. Despite this fact, there are so many little things we can all do to not aid in the increase of pollutant in the atmosphere that lead to global warming that then leads to a rise in sea level. Reduce the releasing of fossil fuels by walking/biking/ carpooling to places. Use renewable energy. Simply become energy efficient to reduce your carbon footprint
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/mar/02/climate-scientists-worry-about-the-costs-of-sea-level-rise
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-sea-level-rise/
http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global_warming/Causes-of-Sea-Level-Rise.pdf
I agree, global warming is a huge issue that needs to be resolved now or the accelerating of high sea levels will keep happening faster and faster. By cutting down on the greenhouse gases and finding renewable energy will help to cut down on the carbon footprint and maybe we will be able to start saving our world instead of killing it.
DeleteGlobal warming has a large impact on the amount of flooding that is occurring. We know that the increase of carbon dioxide being pumped into our atmosphere has a gigantic impact on the amount of glaciers that are melting. If we don't do something to stop this we could be facing large consequences. By cutting down on our burning of fossils fuels and lowering our carbon footprint we can help decrease the amount of glaciers melting away into our oceans.
DeleteMark this one please:
ReplyDeleteGlobal warming is a frightening and incredibly real threat to this world. The rate at which we are consuming the planets resources and expelling pollution are astronomic. It is detrimental to the environment and this article makes evident the damage we have caused. 5 inches of water may not seem like a lot but as the article states its enough to increase flooding in coastal areas and . It is also a good measure of the incredible increase in rising sea levels as a direct effect of our actions. These teams of scientists have put together this greatly extensive research in an effort to show the urgency of the situation.
The Paris agreement has nations agreeing to try to lower their pollution in an attempt to keep the consequences of our consumption at bay. But this is an issue that everyone should be worried about. Especially those on coastal towns, as they would be faced with losing their homes if the flooding continues to worsen. The simple fact is the remedy to this situation is reducing our emissions and the pollutants we expel. In an article I found it describes a way we could slow the rising sea levels:
"A new study finds that it is possible to greatly slow the rate of sea level rise, which is one of the biggest threats global warming poses, by cutting so-called ‘short-lived climate pollutants’, which warm the climate on timescales of a few weeks to a decade, in combination with reductions in long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide"
It goes on to say that by doing this and reducing these "short-lived climate pollutants" by 30-60% we could slow the annual rate of sea levels rising by 18% by 2050. This is something that every country must contribute to if it is to work. It may not be the complete solution but it is something to be considered.
Those who are most affected by this worrying new obstacle would be those living in coastal areas and already crowded cities. As the article states "Under the worst-case scenario investigated, if pollution continues unabated, and if seas respond to ongoing warming by rising at the fastest rates considered likely, sea levels could rise more than 4 feet this century alone, wiping out coastal infrastructure and driving communities inland."
This means that any cities nearby that are already crowded will be flooded with those who have lost their homes. But overall this is a global issue. If this is not handled efficiently and soon we will find ourselves drowning in the consequences.
http://www.coolaustralia.org/finding-a-way-to-slow-sea-level-rise/
I agree that this is a terrifying thing that will happen. And this is only one of the many side effects of climate change. There is no obvious solution, but it won’t be fixed by doing nothing so we need to start educating ourselves and caring about our planet right now. So many people have come up with brilliant ideas to help save our planet. Everything we are doing right now might not make an immediate visible helpful change but its good to start thinking about our planets future. PEERS! START COMPOSTING RECYCLING RIDING YOUR BIKE TO SCHOOL. Small change can make a bring difference.
DeleteMark this one: 5 inches of water does not seem like a lot, and it isnt. but when sea levels have risen by 5 inches in the last century while they hadnt rise by more than 1 inch in a century in the history of the earth, that is a bad sign. Sea levels will just keep rising faster and faster as global warming gets worse and worse. According to National Geographic, sea levels will rise by between 2.5 and 6.5 feet by the year 2100 and they also had some more severe estimates that say that if the greenland ice sheet melts completely then sea levels will rise by 23 feet.There isnt much we can do to control this according to the article even if humans quickly stopped polluting the atmosphere sea levels would still rise by between 9 inches and 2 feet in this century. the rising sea levels effects people living in coastal communities the most, these communities could be in serious trouble in the next 100-200 years unless we can find a way to solve the problem.
ReplyDeletehttp://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-sea-level-rise/
I can't help but think of how many people live in flood plains around the world. I also can't help but think about the amount of fresh water that will be list by melting glaciers. We don't get that water back ever.
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