Red Rising Book Set

[Vannessa Rataj]

Seasonal3-month) sea level estimates from Church and White (2011) (light blue line) and University of Hawaii Fast Delivery sea level data (dark blue). The values are shown as change in sea level in millimeters compared to the 1993-2008 average. NOAA Climate.gov image based on analysis and data from Philip Thompson, University of Hawaii Sea Level Center.

In some ocean basins, sea level has risen as much as 6-8 inches (15-20 centimeters) since the start of the satellite record. Regional differences exist because of natural variability in the strength of winds and ocean currents, which influence how much and where the deeper layers of the ocean store heat.

Between 1993 and 2022 mean sea level has risen across most of the world ocean (blue colors). In some ocean basins, sea level has risen 6-8 inches (15-20 centimeters). Rates of local sea level (dots) on the coast can be larger than the global average due to geological processes like ground settling or smaller than the global average due to processes like the centuries-long rebound of land masses from the loss of ice-age glaciers. Map by NOAA Climate.gov based on data provided by Philip Thompson, University of Hawaii.

Past and future sea level rise at specific locations on land may be more or less than the global average due to local factors: ground settling, upstream flood control, erosion, regional ocean currents, and whether the land is still rebounding from the compressive weight of Ice Age glaciers. In the United States, the fastest rates of sea level rise are occurring in the Gulf of Mexico from the mouth of the Mississippi westward, followed by the mid-Atlantic. Only in Alaska and a few places in the Pacific Northwest are sea levels falling, though that trend will reverse under high greenhouse gas emission pathways.

In the natural world, rising sea level creates stress on coastal ecosystems that provide recreation, protection from storms, and habitat for fish and wildlife, including commercially valuable fisheries. As seas rise, saltwater is also contaminating freshwater aquifers, many of which sustain municipal and agricultural water supplies and natural ecosystems.

From the 1970s up through the last decade or so, melting and heat expansion were contributing roughly equally to observed sea level rise. But the melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets has accelerated:

Melt streams on the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 19, 2015. Ice loss from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets as well as alpine glaciers has accelerated in recent decades. NASA photo by Maria-Jos Vias.

Sea level is measured by two main methods: tide gauges and satellite altimeters. Tide gauge stations from around the world have measured the daily high and low tides for more than a century, using a variety of manual and automatic sensors. Using data from scores of stations around the world, scientists can calculate a global average and adjust it for seasonal differences. Since the early 1990s, sea level has been measured from space using radar altimeters, which determine the height of the sea surface by measuring the return speed and intensity of a radar pulse directed at the ocean. The higher the sea level, the faster and stronger the return signal is.

Observed sea level since the start of the satellite altimeter record in 1993 (black line), plus independent estimates of the different contributions to sea level rise: thermal expansion (red) and added water, mostly due to glacier melt (blue). Added together (purple line), these separate estimates match the observed sea level very well. NOAA Climate.gov graphic, adapted from Figure 3.15a in State of the Climate in 2018.

To estimate how much of the observed sea level rise is due to thermal expansion, scientists measure sea surface temperature using moored and drifting buoys, satellites, and water samples collected by ships. Temperatures in the upper half of the ocean are measured by a global fleet of aquatic robots. Deeper temperatures are measured by instruments lowered from oceanographic research ships.

As global temperatures continue to warm, additional sea level rise is inevitable. How much and by when depends mostly on the future rate of greenhouse gas emissions. But another source of uncertainty is whether big ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland will melt in a steady, predictable way as the Earth gets warmer, or whether they will reach a tipping point and rapidly collapse.

Observed sea level from 2000-2018, with future sea level through 2100 for six future pathways (colored lines) The pathways differ based on future rates of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming and differences in the plausible rates of glacier and ice sheet loss. NOAA Climate.gov graph, adapted from Sweet et al., 2022.

Projections for U.S. sea level rise for the end of the century and beyond depend on which greenhouse gas pathway we follow and how the major ice sheets respond to this ocean and atmospheric warming. If we are able to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, U.S. sea level in 2100 is projected to be around 0.6 meters (2 feet) higher on average than it was in 2000. But on a pathway with high greenhouse gas emissions and rapid ice sheet collapse, models project that average sea level rise for the contiguous United States could be 2.2 meters (7.2 feet) by 2100 and 3.9 meters (13 feet) by 2150.

These data are for education and communication purposes only. The early part of the time series shown in the graph above comes from the sea level group of CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Australia's national science agency. They are documented in Church and White (2011). The more recent part of the time series is from the University of Hawaii Sea Level Center (UHSLC). It is based on a weighted average of 373 global tide gauge records collected by the U.S. National Ocean Service, UHSLC, and partner agencies worldwide. The weights for each gauge in the global mean are determined by a cluster analysis that groups gauges from locations where sea level tends to vary in the same way. This prevents over-emphasizing regions where there are many tide gauges located in close proximity. The most recent year of data should be considered preliminary. Scientific users should acquire research-quality data directly from UHSLC and/or the NOAA Tides and Currents webpage.

Church, J.A., P.U. Clark, A. Cazenave, J.M. Gregory, S. Jevrejeva, A. Levermann, M.A. Merrifield, G.A. Milne, R.S. Nerem, P.D. Nunn, A.J. Payne, W.T. Pfeffer, D. Stammer and A.S. Unnikrishnan. (2013). Sea Level Change. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

IPCC, 2019: Summary for Policymakers. In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [H.- O. Prtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N. Weyer (eds.)]. In press. -for-policymakers/

IPCC. (2013). Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker,T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. [online] -report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_SPM_FINAL.pdf. Accessed November 2, 2015.

If your idea of summer fun is a deep-dive into the STEM fields, join other rising 9th and 10th grade students who are as passionate about advancing their knowledge of the STEM disciplines as you are for two weeks of hands-on team research projects, experiments and design-build challenges.

Due to the different structure of each program, students interested in enrolling in STEM for Rising 9th and 10th Graders (STEM 9/10) are not eligible to participate in Summer@Brown on-campus programs prior to their STEM for Rising 9th and 10th Graders program experience. In addition, students may not be enrolled in another course while in STEM 9/10. If you have questions or concerns our Program Advisors and Program Directors are here to help! Email us or call us at (401) 863-7900 during business hours (Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST).

The Explorers Club is proud of its history and also looks toward the future by recognizing the importance of new ideas and avenues of exploration. The Club is deeply committed to supporting the fieldwork of serious researchers and, as part of its public service commitment, offers exploration grants to High School Students and College Undergraduates as a way to help get their expedition science career off the ground, and out in to the field!

Project Categorization: We understand that your project may be multidisciplinary in nature. That is fine. When describing your category, please just choose the predominate category. You will be given an opportunity to expound later in the application.

Letters of Support: Please be sure to upload two letters expressing support for you and your project. In order to ensure your application is presented to the review committee as a complete file, we highly encourage you to submit your letters through the online system. However, if confidentiality is a concern, letters may be submitted directly to gra...@explorers.org. Please DO NOT mail your letters of support to The Explorers Club Headquarters.

Ethical Concerns: We want to be sure that all applicants have considered potential ethical concerns that could arise during--or as a result of--their expedition or project. This point will be given close consideration in the grant review process, thus applicants will be best served to state any anticipated concerns up front.

3a8082e126