Abrupt Climate Change
Final Project 2022
TSOA OART-UT 1058 • COART-UT 300
Here are some resources to help you learn more about rising sea levels and their effect on our planet.
“Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming: the added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers, and the expansion of seawater as it warms.”
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
“After a period of approximately 2,000 years of little change (not shown here), global average sea level rose throughout the 20th century, and the rate of change has accelerated in recent years.2 When averaged over all of the world’s oceans, absolute sea level has risen at an average rate of 0.06 inches per year from 1880 to 2013 (see Figure 1). Since 1993, however, average sea level has risen at a rate of 0.12 to 0.14 inches per year—roughly twice as fast as the long-term trend.”
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI)
“Sea levels do not rise uniformly around the globe. Some coastal areas are already experiencing rapid rates of change, while other regions are slower to experience significant impacts.”
“Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, ww.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/”>human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.”
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
“The IPCC prepares comprehensive Assessment Reports about the state of scientific, technical and socio-economic knowledge on climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for reducing the rate at which climate change is taking place. ”
WHO – World Health Organization
“Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress alone. The direct damage costs to health are estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030. Areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond.”
NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
“Global temperatures rose about 1.98°F offsite (1.1°C) from 1901 to 2020, but climate change refers to more than an increase in temperature. It also includes sea level rise, changes in weather patterns like drought and flooding, and much more. Things that we depend upon and value — water, energy, transportation, wildlife, agriculture, ecosystems, and human health — are experiencing the effects of a changing climate.”
UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to provide an objective source of scientific information on climate change. In 2013, the IPCC provided a globally peer-reviewed report about the role of human activities in climate change when it released its Fifth Assessment Report. The report was categorical in its conclusion: climate change is real and human activities, largely the release of polluting gases from burning fossil fuel (coal, oil, gas), is the main cause. “
