What would be the major causes and effects of sea level rise What are its human dimensions?

Rising Sea Level

Sea level rise is rapidly becoming a bigger and bigger issue. Sea level rise is caused by global warming which in turn is caused by the addition of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, don't stop much of the sun's light from hitting the earth as its wavelength is too short. However when it is re-radiated from the earth's surface it has longer wavelength. This is when some of it gets trapped by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. As more of the warm sun rays are trapped the earth's temperature rises. This causes two major issues associated with sea-level rise. One, the polar ice caps, mountainous glaciers, and snow sources begin to melt at a faster rate than before and are replaced at a slower rate. Second is that as the globe warms up all of the sea water will start to expand, So more water is being added through melting while the existing water is expanding.

This has resulted in predictions of 15-88cm sea level rise over the next 10 years. That may not seem alot, but a lot of countries will be affected. Bangledesh and Holland being good examples. Much of their land has be reclaimed from the sea and currently sits either lower than sea level or within the 88cm rise threshhold. If the 88cm rise is true, somewhere in the region of 5 million in Bangledesh alone stand to either lose their lives or be living in the sea. I hope this answers your question.

First answer by Iain mcdowell. Last edit by Pure.mathmo. Contributor trust: 60 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 50 [recommend question]