Sea level

[knocker]

The latest figures for sea level rise

https://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/data/products/ocean-indicators-products/mean-sea-level.html

 

[JeffC]

6 hours ago, knocker said:

The latest figures for sea level rise

https://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/data/products/ocean-indicators-products/mean-sea-level.html

 

Is there any way to understand which contributes more, melt water or expansion?

[BornFromTheVoid]

2 hours ago, JeffC said:

Is there any way to understand which contributes more, melt water or expansion?

You can estimate the contribution of thermal expansions by measuring the ocean heat accumulation. Currently, that's thought to contribute about 1/3 of total sea level rise.
Another way, that's much less precise but kinda interesting, is tracking the geographical distribution of sea level rise. Ice sheets have a gravitation influence on the oceans, pulling water towards them and increasing the relative sea level around them. As the ice sheets lose mass, their gravitational pull weakens. Overtime, this can result in a lowering of local sea levels, and a rise at the opposite side of the planet. So a loss of ice in Greenland may have a very slight negative influence on sea level rise here, but cause an increase in the Pacific somewhere.
So by looking at the changes in relative sea level across the planet, you can also infer the mass loss from the ice sheets and to a lesser extent the glaciers. Probably easier just to directly measure the weakening gravitational pull from the ice sheets themselves from satellite such as GRACE though.

[JeffC]

4 hours ago, BornFromTheVoid said:

You can estimate the contribution of thermal expansions by measuring the ocean heat accumulation. Currently, that's thought to contribute about 1/3 of total sea level rise.
Another way, that's much less precise but kinda interesting, is tracking the geographical distribution of sea level rise. Ice sheets have a gravitation influence on the oceans, pulling water towards them and increasing the relative sea level around them. As the ice sheets lose mass, their gravitational pull weakens. Overtime, this can result in a lowering of local sea levels, and a rise at the opposite side of the planet. So a loss of ice in Greenland may have a very slight negative influence on sea level rise here, but cause an increase in the Pacific somewhere.
So by looking at the changes in relative sea level across the planet, you can also infer the mass loss from the ice sheets and to a lesser extent the glaciers. Probably easier just to directly measure the weakening gravitational pull from the ice sheets themselves from satellite such as GRACE though

Thanks...So Ice sucks?!!

Edited November 3, 2019 by JeffC