An introduction..

Hello! Over the coming months I shall be writing a blog that will hopefully inform and discover about Sea Level Change. So why am I looking at Sea Level Change and why is it important?

• Half of the world’s population live within 60km of the sea and this is growing
• Approximately 5% of the world’s population live at an elevation of under 5 metres
• The rate of sea level change is greatly affected by anthropogenic warming of the climate
• According to the IPCC global mean sea level is rising at an unprecedented rate (3.2 mm/yr)
• With current rates of warming (4°C by 2100) up to 760 million people could find the land they live on submerged.

Flooding in Venice in 2008, will this keep happening?

These are just a few of the reasons that sea level change appears to be a crucial factor of Global Environment Change. It is clear that sea level change has the potential to be one of the biggest threats to mankind. However having given in the above bullet points some doomsday like facts a greater understanding of the mechanisms that drive sea level change will be required. The estimate of 3.2mm/yr for global mean sea level rise is both informative yet on another level useless. Yes it shows that across the globe sea level is rising, but as a global average doesn’t tell you how the rate of sea level change is in fact very non-uniform. It is important therefore not to look at simply mean sea level change, but relative sea level change as in some areas sea level is in fact falling in some areas.

I am interested in learning more about sea level change as I perceive it as one of the ‘quiet’ forces of anthropogenic climate change; little by little it is having an effect. This has been shown with the very recent Hurricane Matthew where storm surging was the major cause of damage on the US East coast, exacerbated by the rise in sea levels. In addition the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2010 was greatly influenced by the rises in sea level, as flooding may have not been as extensive. However this often receives little coverage following large events such as these when in fact it is one of the crucial factors in causing damage and destruction.

Photo showing the storm surge from Hurricane Matthew in Georgia, US

During this blog I will aim to understand the mechanisms and processes that govern sea level change, its potential effects and the areas most at risk from sea level change. So stay tuned!