Dealing with Sea Level Rise - Osher Class 1 Summary

Joan and I were glad to see the high level of interest from those who are taking the class. Following is the text from select slides, as well as links to some of the videos we watched.

Class Syllabus:
1. Causes of sea level rise - class 1
2. Forecast of future sea level rise - class 1
3. Regions of the World most affected - class 1
4. Responses being taken - class 2
5. Responses in specific locations
:
 - Norfolk and Tidewater VA - class 2 by Rae Tyson
 
- New Orleans
 - class timing for following TBD
 - South Florida
 
- New York City

 - Netherlands
 - Island Nations

 - Alaska

 - Delaware
 - Locations of class interest - Galveston TX, SC Islands, San Diego CA, Venice Italy

Four Basic Causes of Sea Level Rise
1. Melting of land based ice
2. Thermal expansion of the oceans
3. Land subsidence
4. Land based water inventory changes

1. Melting of Land Based Ice
  Max Potential Contributions, source USGS
- Greenland: +6 meters sea level rise
- West Antarctica: +5 meters
- East Antarctica: + 68 meters
- Other land based ice, Alps, Andes, etc: +1 meter
- An ice-free World:  +80 meters sea level rise

2. Thermal Expansion of Oceans
  Max Potential Contribution at + 3 deg C air temp rise
  + 1.5  meters, source David Archer, The Long Thaw

3. Land subsidence
- Very localized, but significant in some locations like Norfolk, VA

4. Land based water inventory changes
- like using slowly replenished ground water for irrigation
- significant in many ways, but currently not in sea level rise

Videos and links Documenting Changes Taking Place
- Yale Forum video on West Antarctic ice sheet
- NASA Video on Greenland ice sheet changes
- Argo Array of worldwide ocean buoys measuring ocean temp vs depth (+ more)



From David Archer's book, The Long Thaw