Contribution of climate-driven change in continental water storage to recent sea-level rise
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
By: P. C. D. Milly, A. Cazenave, and M.C. Gennero
Links
- More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
- Open Access Version: External Repository
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
Using a global model of continental water balance, forced by interannual variations in precipitation and near-surface atmospheric temperature for the period 1981-1998, we estimate the sea-level changes associated with climate-driven changes in storage of water as snowpack, soil water, and ground water; storage in ice sheets and large lakes is not considered. The 1981-1998 trend is estimated to be 0.12 mm/yr, and substantial interannual fluctuations are inferred; for 1993-1998, the trend is 0.25 mm/yr. At the decadal time scale, the terrestrial contribution to eustatic (i.e., induced by mass exchange) sea-level rise is significantly smaller than the estimated steric (i.e., induced by density changes) trend for the same period, but is not negligibly small. In the model the sea-level rise is driven mainly by a downtrend in continental precipitation during the study period, which we believe was generated by natural variability in the climate system.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Contribution of climate-driven change in continental water storage to recent sea-level rise |
| Series title | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| DOI | 10.1073/pnas.2134014100 |
| Volume | 100 |
| Issue | 23 |
| Year Published | 2003 |
| Language | English |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| First page | 13158 |
| Last page | 13161 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |