Researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) found that the past century rivals sea levels not seen for thousands of years. They used 1,000 sediment samples from Britain, North America, and Greenland to reconstruct 35,000 years of sea fluctuations, and measured an increase of about 20cm. This is unparalleled over a timespan of more than 6,000 years.
The ANU research results published in PNAS are consistent with other studies, including salt flat data changes in the sea floor due to extra water weight.
Rising temperatures are the culprit. With higher temperatures due to climate change, the polar ice melts and the sea expands. This is what you saw in the video yesterday – the cold hard facts caught on camera.
Scientists predict that this trend will continue for the next century. And that’s only if carbon emissions stay at the same level they are today.
We’ve written extensively on climate change and here are a few articles dedicated to what you can do to make a difference:
Mapping Climate Change: Our Warming World
New Approaches to Farming in the Age of Climate Change
Turn Yourself Into a Sustainability Guru
