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If you look at a map of Earth's gravity, you will see a huge blue spot south of India, indicating a region where gravity is weaker than average. This spot is called the Indian Ocean Geoid Low (IOGL), and it is the largest gravity anomaly on our planet.A gravity anomaly is a difference between the actual gravity measured at a location and the theoretical gravity expected for a perfectly smooth and spherical Earth. But Earth's gravity isn't perfectly uniform and variations in mass distribution beneath the surface cause fluctuations in gravitational pull.Gravity anomalies can be caused by variations in the...

Samples drilled from deep beneath the sea have revealed just how much global sea levels changed following the last ice age. Melting ice caps in North America, Antarctica and Europe caused sea levels to rise quickly as temperatures warmed after the last ice age. But researchers have lacked robust geological data from this period, so how much sea levels climbed was unknown. Now, new geological data show that sea levels rose about 125 feet (38 meters) between 11,000 and 3,000 years ago, according to a study published March 19 in the journal Nature. The findings could help scientists and policymakers...

Atmospheric Rivers / Could // Double /Sea Level Height // Along US West Coast

Over the past few decades, earth scientists have grappled with the concept of solar geoengineering: cooling the rapidly warming planet by injecting particles high into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight, for example. Now, researchers are proposing a new way to battle the effects of climate change that could prove even more costly and controversial: glacial geoengineering, designed to slow sea level rise. A white paper, released on 11 July by glaciologists who conducted a series of workshops and town halls over the course of 10 months, calls for boosting research into daring plans that would protect vulnerable ice sheets by...

he edge of Greenland’s ice sheet looked like a big lick of sludgy white frosting spilling over a rise of billion-year-old brown rock. Inside the Twin Otter’s cabin, there were five of us: two pilots, a scientist, an engineer, and me. Farther north, we would have needed another seat for a rifle-armed guard. Here, we were told to just look around for polar-bear tracks on our descent. We had taken off from Greenland’s west coast and soon passed over the ice sheet’s lip. Viewed from directly above, the first 10 miles of ice looked wrinkled, like elephant skin. Its folds...

The massive "doomsday glacier" known for its rapid destabilization is undergoing a "vigorous ice melt" that scientists say could reshape sea level rise projections. In a new study, glaciologists from the University of California, Irvine, found that warm, high-pressure ocean water is seeping beneath West Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier, making it more vulnerable to melting than previously thought. The glacier is roughly 80 miles across, the widest on Earth. It packs so much ice that if it were to completely collapse, it could singlehandedly cause global sea levels to rise by more than two feet, according to the International Thwaites Glacier...

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- The ongoing fight against the effects of climate change took centerstage at the Honolulu City Council on Thursday. In the past, the council’s Zoning and Planning Committee has drafted bills surrounding coastal erosion and climate change. But lawmakers are now looking at creating comprehensive legislation focused on shoreline development. In an informational briefing, climate experts offered a presentation showcasing the long-term impact of global warming on coastlines throughout Oahu. In Ewa Beach, for example, models show wave inundation of 4 feet in the next 70 years. Dr. Chip Fletcher, interim dean of the University of Hawaii-Manoa School...

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Imagine a forest the size of Raleigh and Durham. Now imagine a forest that size dying every single year. It’s an unfortunate reality that’s happening right now across the North American Coastal Plain, including part of our backyard here in North Carolina. Our North Carolina beaches are a popular vacation spot or weekend getaway where we soak up the sun and relax to the sound of waves. But just a few miles inland, our coastal wetlands are facing a crisis. Vulnerable ecosystems are changing, and trees are dying, leaving nothing but ghosts. “A ghost forest I...

It's massive, it's collapsing due to global warming, and when it goes, sea levels are going to rise by a significant amount, perhaps by 10 feet. "All signs point to (the eventuality that) we're not going to keep this glacier from collapsing," said Villanova University Vice President, Chief Research Officer, and Chemistry Professor Amanda Grannas about the glacier that she said is about the size of Florida. "Part of the weights actually extends out over the ocean. So part of the ice is floating on top of the ocean water, and part of it's located over land." Dr. Grannas said...

Rising sea levels may be seen as a very modern phenomenon, but according to a new study, it really became a significant issue more than 150 years ago. Researchers have studied a global database of sea-level records spanning the last 2,000 years, based on archeological and biological evidence at global sites. These sites include Pelham Bay in New York, Cheesequake in New Jersey, Vioarholmi in Iceland, Aasiaat in Greenland and Loch Laxford in Scotland. Modern rates of sea level rise began emerging in 1863 following the Industrial Revolution, coinciding with evidence for early ocean warming and glaciers melting, the experts...

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Fairbourne is a tiny Welsh village of only 700 people, tucked between mountains and the Irish sea. Founded around 1865, the pace is so slow that "Dragon's Teeth" tank traps from World War II still dot the beach to fend off a German invasion that never came. There's nothing particularly outstanding about Fairbourne to attract visitors. It's just a lovely little place to live. Or it was. In 2014, the authorities decided that Fairbourne was at high risk of flooding from climate change. Let's just ponder that for a moment. Seven years have gone by since the arbitrary decision that...

Lower sea levels over the last 360,000 years are linked with more eruptions When sea level drops far below the present-day level, the island volcano Santorini in Greece gets ready to rumble. A comparison of the activity of the volcano, which is now partially collapsed, with sea levels over the last 360,000 years reveals that when the sea level dips more than 40 meters below the present-day level, it triggers a fit of eruptions. During times of higher sea level, the volcano is quiet, researchers report online August 2 in Nature Geoscience. Other volcanoes around the globe are probably similarly...

Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory... say researchers examining signs of past sea levels along various coasts may have failed to accurately correct for long-term ups and downs of the land itself. Based on newly sophisticated measurements made across the Bahamas along with new methods of analyzing data, the researchers produced lower—though still daunting—estimates for the last interglacial. They say seas peaked at least 1.2 meters (4 feet) higher than today—roughly in line with most current models for the next 100 years of so. However, they say, levels could have been higher. An unlikely upper limit, they say, is 5.3 meters...

The melting rate of the Antarctic ice sheet is mainly controlled by the increase of ocean temperatures surrounding Antarctica. Using a new, higher-resolution climate model simulation, scientists from Utrecht University found a much slower ocean temperature increase compared to current simulations with a coarser resolution. Consequently, the projected sea-level rise in 100 years is about 25% lower than expected from the current simulations. The new high-resolution model takes into account ocean eddy processes. An eddy is a large (10-200 km) swirling and turbulent feature in the ocean circulation, which contributes to the transport of heat and salt. Adding ocean eddies...

..... Scaling up You can think about the oceans as a gigantic bathtub. More than 70% of the Earth’s surface is ocean, giving this bathtub an area of about 140 million square miles. To figure out how much the water will rise, we need to know the volume of people sitting in it and divide it by this ocean area. Currently, there are almost 8 billion people on Earth. Human beings come in all sizes, from tiny babies to large adults. Let’s assume the average size is 5 feet tall – a bit bigger than a child – with an...

U.S.—Stunned meteorologists reported Wednesday that the sea level has risen an astonishing 300 feet overnight, as the sweat from celebrities trying to cover up their sexual harassment scandals rained down “in buckets.” Vast swathes of the United States are now entirely underwater, including major coastal cities and regions, as the investigations into various celebrities and TV personalities continue. “This is a worldwide disaster,” one NBC News anchor (not Matt Lauer) said. “We saw an uptick when Harvey Weinstein’s deviant behavior came to light, but when it became clear the revelations wouldn’t be slowing down anytime soon, celebrities and otherwise powerful...

Abstract: Over the past decades, detailed surveys of the Pacific Ocean atoll islands show no sign of drowning because of accelerated sea-level rise. Data reveal that no atoll lost land area, 88.6% of islands were either stable or increased in area, and only 11.4% of islands contracted. The Pacific Atolls are not being inundated because the sea level is rising much less than was thought. The average relative rate of rise and acceleration of the 29 long-term-trend (LTT) tide gauges of Japan, Oceania and West Coast of North America, are both negative, −0.02139 mm yr−1 and −0.00007 mm yr−2 respectively....

Those who argue human greenhouse gas emissions are causing dangerous climate change regularly point to rising seas as one of the most certain and devastating impacts on human communities.According to environmental activists, mainstream media outlets and some scientists—who routinely cite Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports—unless governments take drastic action to transform the world’s economic system, including ending the use of fossil fuels for energy in a very short period, entire island nations will disappear beneath the seas and low-lying coastal cities will be swamped, forcing a great migration of populations inland.The threat of rising seas to various communities...

Sea level has risen about 400 feet since the last glacial maximum of ~18,000 years ago (see fig. below). Currently, sea level is rising at the rate of 1-2mm per year — and has been rising at that rate for the past several centuries. At that rate, S.L. will be about six inches higher by 2100 — a long way from Al Gore's 2006 estimate of a 20-foot rise. By choosing a short interval, 1910–1942, of certified warming, I can show the lack of any acceleration (see below).  SLR does not depend on ocean temperature — or CO2. Every one of the...