Sea level changes under increasing atmospheric CO[sub 2] in a transient coupled ocean-atmosphere GCM experiment

Journal Article · Wed Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Journal of Climate; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1993)006<2247:SLCUIA>2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:5349610

Gregory, J M ^[1]

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1. Meteorological Office, Bracknell (United Kingdom)

Climate change resulting from the enhanced greenhouse effect of increasing atmospheric CO[sub 2] concentrations is expected to bring about global and local changes in sea level. A global rise in sea level would result from thermal expansion of seawater and from melting of land ice, while changes in ocean dynamics and atmospheric pressure patterns could alter relative sea surface topography. Global and local seal level changes have been diagnosed from a 75-yr experiment with a version of the U.K. Meteorological Office coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model in which the CO[sub 2] concentration increases at 1% per year. Over the final decade, the component of mean global average sea level rise caused by thermal expansion is 90 mm; on this time scale, a significant contribution is expected from melting of mountain glaciers, but the model does not represent these. Sea level rises over practically the entire ocean area, but there is considerable variation in the magnitude, showing that the global figure by itself gives only a rough idea of the local effect; the largest rises are found in the northwest Atlantic. It is illustrated how this local variation makes it difficult to estimate global sea level rise from a limited number of coastal stations, as must usually be done in practice. 26 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 5349610
• Journal Information: Journal of Climate; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Climate; (United States) Vol. 6:12; ISSN JLCLEL; ISSN 0894-8755
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring &amp; Transport-- (1990-)
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring &amp; Transport-- (1990-)
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
LEVELS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SEA LEVEL