Comment: 25:47 - 26:24 (00:37)
Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed 23. Glaciers
Keywords: "James Sadd", glacier, "glacial ice", "glacial melt", "glacial ice volume", "sea level", "global warming", climate, "glacial retreat", flood, "geologic hazard"
|
Our transcription: Glacial ice volume is the principal factor controlling sea level.
Sea level rose about 12 centimeters over the last century, again due to the warming of the inter-glacial climate and retreat of the glaciers worldwide.
But the current rate of rise is about three times as fast, and estimates of sea level rise over the next century vary from 30 centimeters to over 2 meters.
This may not sound very threatening, but 30 centimeters of sea level rise would correspond to 500 meters of coastal flooding in some areas of the world.
For this reason, glaciation is tied to the future of some of the world's great coastal cities.
|
Geology School Keywords
|
