(Newswire.net — February 27, 2016) — From between the early 1900s to the year 2000, the planet’s ocean and sea levels have risen by about 5 inches as a result of melting ice, especially in the Arctic, researchers have found.
The results of the two separate studies were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal.
Robert Kopp, a professor at Rutgers University, Department of Earth Science, and leader of a study that looks at sea levels from throughout the last three centuries has said that the last century was remarkable compared to the last three millennia in that the sea level growth has accelerated in the last 20 years.
The international team of scientists studied twenty locations around the world. They recorded how sea levels rose and decreased over the centuries and millennia.
By the 1880’s and industrialization, the fastest rise was about three to four centimeters over the span of a hundred years. During that time, global sea levels did not reach much higher or much lower than the 7.5 inches above or below the annual average during the 2,000 years.
But in the 20th century, sea levels on the planet rose by 5 inches. Since 1993, the growth rate jumped to 11 inches per century.
According to two different studies published in the PNAS journal, by 2100 the oceans will increase between 11 inches and 51 inches if the world continues to depend so much on fossil fuels.
If the states meet the goals agreed at the climate conference in Paris in December last year, to limit global warming to an additional two degrees compared to pre-industrial era, sea levels would rise between 28 and 56 centimeters by the end of this century.
To determine how ocean levels have changed and are changing in the last three millennia, the scientists used new geological data, using swamps, coral reefs and archaeological sites as indicators for the amount of water. They used data on the ebb and flow of 66 places on the planet over the last 300 years.
Scientists have found that sea levels on Earth were in decline until the industrial age. Sea level rise in the 20th century was mostly a result of human activities, the authors stated.
A close link between sea level and temperature changes concerns scientists very much.
If the seas and oceans continue to rise as predicted it will cause a lot of problems and costs.
In a separate study, not yet published, Kop and other scientists had found that since 1950, about two-thirds of the floods in the US were a result of the warming caused by man.