Ocean Freshening, Sea Level Rising
- 27 June 2003
- journal article
- perspective
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 300 (5628) , 2041-2043
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1085534
Abstract
Global sea levels have been rising over the past century. It remains hotly debated, however, how fast this rise has been and which of the two causes--expansion of ocean waters due to warming, or freshwater input from the continents-has dominated. In his Perspective, Munk argues that a recent survey of global ocean salinity may point to a dominant contribution from freshwater input. He cautions, however, that uncertainties in sea ice melting rates and possible biases in tide gage data do not yet allow a definitive answer. Even with global satellite coverage, several decades of data will be required for good estimates of the role of global warming in sea level rise.Keywords
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