One of the most important issues in current debates on climate change is
sea level rise. Hardly a day goes by when there is not a newspaper
article, TV or radio presentation on the topic. Nearly half of the
world's population live on or near the coast, so there is real concern
about the impact that future sea level rise may have. Yet media
predictions of future changes tend to be depicted in a sensationalist
manner and quite often the explanations of the science of sea level
change bear little relation to reality. This book details the history of
scientific discoveries that have explained the patterns of sea level
change that have taken place across the Earth in the past. Alastair
Dawson introduces the many complex processes, some of which are not
well-known, that influence patterns and rates of relative sea level
change. Using this knowledge, the reader is much better placed to form a
clearer perspective on what the future is likely to have in store for
sea levels on Earth.Alastair Dawson first addresses some of the most
important misconceptions about the topic of sea level change. He then
explains the principal causes of sea level change focusing on the key
issues of vertical land movements and changes in global ocean volume. He
explores the key areas of science that we need to understand in order to
evaluate competing assertions of how sea level is likely to change in
the future. He also shows how, remarkably, the melting history of the
last great ice sheets on Earth is still playing an important part in
contributing to present patterns of sea level change. The book concludes
with a consideration of the rates and patterns of sea level change that
have occurred over the last century and demonstrates how satellite
technology is presently contributing new ways of understanding of
present patterns of change.
