Understanding Sea-Level Rise and Variability

By John A. Church, Philip L. Woosworth, Thorkild Aarup et al.

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Understanding Sea-Level Rise and Variability identifies the major impacts of sea-level rise, presents up-to-date assessments of past sea-level change, thoroughly explores all of the factors contributing to sea-level rise, and explores how sea-level extreme events might change. It identifies what is known in each area and what research and observations are required to reduce the uncertainties in our understanding of sea-level rise so that more reliable future projections can be made. A synthesis of findings provides a concise summary of past, present and future sea-level rise and its impacts on society.

Key Features:
Book includes contributions from a range of international sea level experts
Multidisciplinary
Four color throughout
Describes the limits of our understanding of this crucial issue as well as pointing to directions for future research

The book is for everyone interested in sea-level rise and its impacts, including policy makers, research funders, scientists, students, coastal managers and engineers.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley & Sons
• Artikelnr. des Verlages: 1A444334520
• 1. Auflage
• Seitenzahl: 456
• Erscheinungstermin: 20. September 2010
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 246mm x 190mm x 32mm
• Gewicht: 1093g
• ISBN-13: 9781444334524
• ISBN-10: 1444334522
• Artikelnr.: 30589326

Autorenporträt

John Church is an oceanographer with the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre. He was co-convening lead author for the chapter on sea level in the IPCC Third Assessment Report. He was awarded the 2006 Roger Revelle Medal by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, a CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement in 2006, and the 2007 Eureka Prize for Scientific Research. Philip Woodworth works at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Liverpool. He is a former Director of the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) and Chairman of Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS). He has been a lead or contributing author for each of the IPCC Research Assessments. He was awarded the Denny Medal of IMAREST in 2009 for innovation in sea-level technology and the Vening Meinesz Medal of the European Geosciences Union in 2010 for work in geodesy. Thorkild Aarup is Senior Program Specialist with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and serves as technical secretary for the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) program. He has a PhD in oceanography from the University of Copenhagen. Stan Wilson has managed programs during his career, first at the Office of Naval Research where he led the Navy's basic research program in physical oceanography, then at NASA Headquarters where he established the Oceanography from Space program, and finally at NOAA where he helped organize the 20-country coalition in support of the Argo Program of profiling floats. Currently the Senior Scientist for NOAA's Satellite & Information Service, he is helping transition Jason satellite altimetry from research into a capability to be sustained by the operational agencies NOAA and EUMETSAT.

Inhaltsangabe

Editor Biographies x
List of Contributors xi
Foreword xvii
Acknowledgments xix
Abbreviations and Acronyms xxii
1 Introduction 1
Philip L. Woodworth, John A. Church, Thorkild Aarup, and W. Stanley Wilson
References 15
2 Impacts of and Responses to Sea-Level Rise 17
Robert J. Nicholls
2.1 Introduction 17
2.2 Climate Change and Global/Relative Sea-Level Rise 18
2.3 Sea-Level Rise and Resulting Impacts 22
2.4 Framework and Methods for the Analysis of Sea-Level-Rise Impacts 25
2.5 Recent Impacts of Sea-Level Rise 27
2.6 Future Impacts of Sea-Level Rise 30
2.7 Responding to Sea-Level Rise 37
2.8 Next Steps 40
2.9 Concluding Remarks 41
Acknowledgments 43
References 43
3 A First-Order Assessment of the Impact of Long-Term Trends in Extreme Sea
Levels on Offshore Structures and Coastal Refineries 52
Ralph Rayner and Bev MacKenzie
3.1 Introduction 52
3.2 Design Considerations 54
3.3 Impact of Long-Term Trends in Extreme Sea Levels 55
3.4 Evaluating the Economic Impact 57
3.5 Conclusions 58
References 59
4 Paleoenvironmental Records, Geophysical Modeling, and Reconstruction of
Sea-Level Trends and Variability on Centennial and Longer Timescales 61
Kurt Lambeck, Colin D. Woodroffe, Fabrizio Antonioli, Marco Anzidei, W.
Roland Gehrels, Jacques Laborel, and Alex J. Wright
4.1 Introduction 61
4.2 Past Sea-Level Changes 62
4.3 Sea-Level Indicators 73
4.4 Geophysical Modeling of Variability in Relative Sea-Level History 84
4.5 Regional Case Studies 88
4.6 Discussion and Conclusions 95
Acknowledgments 105
References 105
5 Modern Sea-Level-Change Estimates 122
Gary T. Mitchum, R. Steven Nerem, Mark A. Merrifield, and W. Roland Gehrels
5.1 Introduction 122
5.2 Estimates from Proxy Sea-Level Records 123
5.3 Estimates of Global Sea-Level Change from Tide Gauges 126
5.4 Estimates of Global Sea-Level Change from Satellite Altimetry 133
5.5 Recommendations 137
Acknowledgments 138
References 138
6 Ocean Temperature and Salinity Contributions to Global and Regional
Sea-Level Change 143
John A. Church, Dean Roemmich, Catia M. Domingues, Josh K. Willis, Neil J.
White, John E. Gilson, Detlef Stammer, Armin Köhl, Don P. Chambers, Felix
W. Landerer, Jochem Marotzke, Jonathan M. Gregory, Tatsuo Suzuki, Anny
Cazenave, and Pierre-Yves Le Traon
6.1 Introduction 143
6.2 Direct Estimates of Steric Sea-Level Rise 145
6.3 Estimating Steric Sea-Level Change Using Ocean Syntheses 152
6.4 Inferring Steric Sea Level from Time-Variable Gravity and Sea Level 154
6.5 Modeling Steric Sea-Level Rise 156
6.6 Conclusions and Recommendations 166
Acknowledgments 168
References 168
7 Cryospheric Contributions to Sea-Level Rise and Variability 177
Konrad Steffen, Robert H. Thomas, Eric Rignot, J. Graham Cogley, Mark B.
Dyurgerov, Sarah C.B. Raper, Philippe Huybrechts, and Edward Hanna
7.1 Introduction 177
7.2 Mass-Balance Techniques 178
7.3 Ice-Sheet Mass Balance 180
7.4 Mass Balance of Glaciers and Ice Caps 192
7.5 Glacier, Ice-Cap, and Ice-Sheet Modeling 200
7.6 Summary and Recommendations 210
References 214
8 Terrestrial Water-Storage Contributions to Sea-Level Rise and Variability
226
P.C.D. (Chris) Milly, Anny Cazenave, James S. Famiglietti, Vivien Gornitz,
Katia Laval, Dennis P. Lettenmaier, Dork L. Sahagian, John M. Wahr, and
Clark R. Wilson
8.1 Introduction 226
8.2 Analysis Tools 229
8.3 Climate-Driven Changes of Terrestrial Water Storage 236
8.4 Direct Anthropogenic Changes of Terrestrial Water Storage 241
8.5 Synthesis 246
8.6 Recommendations 248
References 249
9 Geodetic Observations and Global Reference Frame Contributions to
Understanding Sea-Level Rise and Variability 256
Geoff Blewitt, Zuheir Altamimi, James Davis, Richard Gross, Chung-Yen Kuo,
Frank G. Lemoine, Angelyn W. Moore, Ruth E. Neilan, Hans-Peter Plag, Markus
Rothacher, C.K. Shum, Michael G. Sideris, Tilo Schöne, Paul Tregoning, and
Susanna Zerbini
9.1 Introduction 256
9.2 Global and Regional Reference Systems 263
9.3 Linking GPS to Tide Gauges and Tide-Gauge Benchmarks 274
9.4 Recommendations for Geodetic Observations 279
Acknowledgments 281
References 281
10 Surface Mass Loading on a Dynamic Earth: Complexity and Contamination in
the Geodetic Analysis of Global Sea-Level Trends 285
Jerry X. Mitrovica, Mark E. Tamisiea, Erik R. Ivins, L.L.A. (Bert)
Vermeersen, Glenn A. Milne, and Kurt Lambeck
10.1 Introduction 285
10.2 Glacial Isostatic Adjustment 290
10.3 Sea Level, Sea Surface, and the Geoid 300
10.4 Rapid Melting and Sea-Level Fingerprints 302
10.5 Great Earthquakes 308
10.6 Final Remarks 311
Acknowledgments 313
References 313
11 Past and Future Changes in Extreme Sea Levels and Waves 326
Jason A. Lowe, Philip L. Woodworth, Tom Knutson, Ruth E. McDonald, Kathleen
L. McInnes, Katja Woth,
Hans von Storch, Judith Wolf, Val Swail, Natacha B. Bernier, Sergey Gulev,
Kevin J. Horsburgh, Alakkat S. Unnikrishnan, John R. Hunter, and Ralf
Weisse
11.1 Introduction 326
11.2 Evidence for Changes in Extreme Sea Levels and Waves in the Recent
Past 327
11.3 Mid-Latitude and Tropical Storms: Changes in the Atmospheric Drivers
of Extreme Sea Level 337
11.4 Future Extreme Water Levels 346
11.5 Future Research Needs 357
11.6 Conclusions 361
Acknowledgments 361
References 361
12 Observing Systems Needed to Address Sea-Level Rise and Variability 376
W. Stanley Wilson, Waleed Abdalati, Douglas Alsdorf, Jérôme Benveniste,
Hans Bonekamp, J. Graham Cogley, Mark R. Drinkwater, Lee-Lueng Fu, Richard
Gross, Bruce J. Haines, D.E. Harrison, Gregory C. Johnson, Michael Johnson,
John L. LaBrecque, Eric J. Lindstrom, Mark A. Merrifi eld, Laury Miller,
Erricos C. Pavlis, Stephen Piotrowicz, Dean Roemmich, Detlef Stammer,
Robert H. Thomas, Eric Thouvenot, and Philip L. Woodworth
12.1 Introduction 376
12.2 Sustained, Systematic Observing Systems (Existing Capabilities) 377
12.3 Development of Improved Observing Systems (New Capabilities) 390
12.4 Summary 398
References 400
13 Sea-Level Rise and Variability: Synthesis and Outlook for the Future 402
John A. Church, Thorkild Aarup, Philip L. Woodworth, W. Stanley Wilson,
Robert J. Nicholls, Ralph Rayner, Kurt Lambeck, Gary T. Mitchum, Konrad
Steffen, Anny Cazenave, Geoff Blewitt, Jerry X. Mitrovica, and Jason A.
Lowe
13.1 Historical Sea-Level Change 403
13.2 Why is Sea Level Rising? 405
13.3 The Regional Distribution of Sea-Level Rise 408
13.4 Projections of Sea-Level Rise for the 21st Century and Beyond 409
13.5 Changes in Extreme Events 412
13.6 Sea Level and Society 412
References 416
Index 421