Climatic change is causing a dramatic rise in the global sea level. Thermal expansion caused by the heating of the ocean and an increase in land-based ice melting, such as glaciers and ice sheets are the two main causes of global sea level rise. More than 90% of the increased atmospheric energy associated with human caused pollution is consumed by the oceans. According to the National Geographic “Average sea levels have swelled over 8 inches (about 23 cm) since 1880, with about three of those inches gained in the last 25 years. Every year, the sea rises another .13 inches (3.2 mm)”. This shows that sea level rise will continue throughout the century at a higher rate. Higher sea level has a negative effect on coastal ecosystems which may result in devastating erosion, flooding of wetlands, and loss of habitat for many animals and plants. Higher sea levels are correlated with natural disasters such as hurricanes, storms, and flooding. Causing an increase in migration, worsen both hurricane and flood damages.
https://www.globalchange.gov/browse/indicators/global-sea-level-rise
In order to be prepared for these threats, most coastal cities are already adapting to meet the long-term expectations of rising sea levels. In order to minimize the impact of rising sea, cities are constructing seawalls, roads are being rethought and mangroves or other plants are being planted to absorb water. Depending on the location, some places are more vulnerable than others. Therefore, more implementation and more strategies are necessary in order to hold back the tides. Sea level rise is no joke, hyperbolically speaking if all the ice from glaciers actually melted, it would increase sea level by 216 meters and potentially cause some states or countries to completely disappear. This is something is not very likely to happen but we should still think about it. We need to act on and solve the problems that are occurring now to prevent the sea level to rise to the point of danger. The most critical solution to implement is removing existing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. One of the reasons and probably the major one as to why climate change is so severe is due to greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities. The burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Therefore, if we eliminate or reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, it would allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change and would decrease the probability of an increase in rising sea level.
References
https://www.globalchange.gov/browse/indicators/global-sea-level-rise
https://www.globalchange.gov/browse/indicators/global-sea-level-rise
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/sea-level-rise/
https://www.thebalance.com/sea-level-rise-and-climate-change-4158037
https://climate.nasa.gov/solutions/adaptation-mitigation/
https://thebulletin.org/2018/05/how-much-and-how-fast-will-global-sea-level-rise/(image)
