Sea level rise and global warming

The document details how global average sea level has risen 8 inches since 1880, noting that the US East Coast and Gulf of Mexico are hotspots due to ocean current changes and land subsidence. It highlights the accelerating role of land ice melt—which contributed 75 to 80 percent of the total increase between 2003 and 2007—and asserts that future sea level rise will be primarily driven by the loss of ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica.

• Global average sea level has risen 8 inches since 1880, but certain areas of the US East Coast and Gulf of Mexico have seen more than 8 inches of local rise in just the last 50 years. This regional acceleration is driven by land subsidence and changes in the strength and path of ocean currents.
• The contribution of melting land ice (glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets) to sea level rise has accelerated since the early 1990s. Between 2003 and 2007, land ice loss accounted for 75 to 80 percent of the total global sea level increase, adding nearly half an inch.
• Future sea level rise is determined by heat-trapping emissions and the response of land ice. While emissions up to the present largely dictate rise through 2050, the long-term trajectory depends on the loss of ice sheets in West Antarctica and Greenland.
• Sea levels will continue to rise for decades even if heat-trapping emissions were eliminated by 2016, as the oceans and land ice continue to adjust to existing atmospheric changes.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2013). Sea level rise and global warming. https://www.ucs.org/resources/sea-level-rise-and-global-warming

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Sea level rise and global warming. 2013. https://www.ucs.org/resources/sea-level-rise-and-global-warming.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Sea level rise and global warming |date=16 April 2013 |url=https://www.ucs.org/resources/sea-level-rise-and-global-warming |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2013sea, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Sea level rise and global warming}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2013}, month = apr, url = {https://www.ucs.org/resources/sea-level-rise-and-global-warming}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }