Sea Level Rise (eBook)

History and Consequences

Bruce Douglas, Mark T Kearney, Stephen P. Leatherman (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: PDF

2000 | 1. Auflage
232 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-0-08-051679-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Sea Level Rise, History and Consequences includes a special emphasis on the evidence for historical sea level change, case studies are used to demonstrate the resulting consequences. A CD-ROM is included which contain tide gauge data and trends of relative sea level from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level. The material on the CD-ROM is either in the form of text files, or web sites that can be opened by widely available web-browsers.

Sea level is expected to rise as much as 60-100 centimeters over the next century due to greenhouse-induced global warming -- or at least that is what the some scientists predict. However, the concept of sea level is extremely complex, which makes the prediction of sea level rise anything but certain. The reviewers are in consensus in enthusiastically endorsing this comprehensive book and CD-ROM treatment.

This book will be a comprehensive review of the subject using the data themselves (on CD-ROM) to illustrate the principles involved, rather than detailed mathematical treatments. The book should be readily accessible to upper division and first-year graduate students in the environmental sciences, geography, geology, and other interdisciplinary fields. Four pages (up to 16 pages) of color in the printed text.

The book will have wide appeal. It will be read by geologists, geophysicists, climatologists, oceanographers, meteorologists, environmental scientists, geomorphologists, coastal engineers, and policy makers in all of these fields.

Inhalt

Cover 1
Contents 8
Contributors 12
Foreword 14
Preface 18
Chapter 1. An Introduction to Sea Level 22
1.1 The Importance of Sea Level Rise 22
1.2 Sea Level and Geoid 24
1.3 Characteristics of Sea Level Records 28
References 31
Chapter 2. Late Holocene Sea Level Variations 34
2.1 Introduction 34
2.2 Evidence for Past Sea Levels: The Data and the Conclusions Drawn 35
2.3 The Historical Record as Evidence for Sea Level Variation 46
2.4 The Late Holocene Sea Level Record 47
2.5 The Question of Higher Sea Levels Than Present during the Late Holocene 51
2.6 Conclusions 53
References 54
Chapter 3. Sea Level Change in the Era of the Recording Tide Gauge 58
3.1 Introduction 58
3.2 Tide Gauges and Their Data 61
3.3 Interpreting Sea Level Records 64
3.4 Tide Gauge Records Suitable for Global Sea Level Analyses 76
3.5 Acceleration of Global Sea Level in the 20th Century 80
3.6 Concluding Remarks 83
References 83
Chapter 4. Global Glacial Isostatic Adjustment and Modern Instrumental Records of Relative Sea Level History 86
4.1 Introduction 86
4.2 The Modern Global Theory of the Glacial Isostatic Adjustment Process 89
4.3 Global Properties of Present-Day Signatures of the GIA Process: Tuning the Model 94
4.4 GIA-Decontaminated Tide Gauge Estimates of the Rate of Global Sea Level Rise 102
4.5 Implications of the Mid-Holocene Highstand of Sea Level at Sites Distant from the Main Concentrations of LGM Land Ice 107
4.6 Summary 112
References 114
Chapter 5. Impoundment, Groundwater Mining, and Other Hydrologic Transformations: Impacts on Global Sea Level Rise 118
5.1 Introduction 118
5.2 Processes That Increase River Runoff 122
5.3 Processes That Reduce Runoff 129
5.4 Discussion 133
5.5 Conclusions 136
References 137
Chapter 6. Observations of Sea Level Change from Satellite Altimetry 142
6.1 Introduction 142
6.2 The Altimeter Measurement 146
6.3 Calibrating the Measurement 158
6.4 Results from the TOPEX/POSEIDON Mission 167
6.5 The Future 176
References 180
Chapter 7. Decadal Variability of Sea Level 186
7.1 Introduction 186
7.2 A Closer Examination of Some Important Details: Low-Frequency Waves in the Ocean 193
7.3 The Underlying Physics of the Problem 196
Appendix 198
References 200
Chapter 8. Social and Economic Costs of Sea Level Rise 202
8.1 Introduction 202
8.2 Data Considerations 205
8.3 Sandy Beach Erosion 209
8.4 Coastal Wetlands 217
8.5 Deltaic Coasts 220
8.6 Small Island Vulnerability 224
8.7 The Chesapeake Bay: A Case Study 230
8.8. Conclusions 239
References 241
Index 246
International Geophysics Series 250
Technical Support 254
Color Plate Section 256

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 5.10.2000
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Ökologie / Naturschutz
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geografie / Kartografie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geologie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Hydrologie / Ozeanografie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Bauwesen
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Elektrotechnik / Energietechnik
• ISBN-10: 0-08-051679-3 / 0080516793
• ISBN-13: 978-0-08-051679-0 / 9780080516790