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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999
FROM VOLUME 4, NUMBER 5, MAY 1991
PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
SEA LEVEL RISE AND IMPACTS
Item #d91may30
 "Sea-Level Rise and Earthquakes," R. Bilham (Dept. Geol. Sci.,
Univ. Colorado, Boulder CO 80309), S. Barrientos, Nature, 350(6317),
386, Apr. 4, 1991. Comments on the need to account for seismic deformation of
ocean basins in estimates of future sea level rise.
Item #d91may31
"The Significance of Coral Reefs as Global Carbon Sinks--Response to
Greenhouse," D.W. Kinsey (Great Barrier Reef Marine Pk., Townsville QA810,
Australia), D. Hopley, Global & Planet. Change, 3(4),
363-377, Mar. 1991.
Coral reefs are net carbon sinks of 111 million tons yr-1, the equivalent of
2% of present day anthropogenic CO2 emissions. If present trends of
recolonization of coral reefs continue, in 100 years that figure could rise to
4% under a greenhouse scenario of rising sea level. However, reefs could "drown"
due to inability to match the rate of sea level rise if that rate exceeds 6-8 mm
yr-1.
Item #d91may32
"Greenhouse Effect and Coastal Wetland Policy: How Americans Could
Abandon an Area the Size of Massachusetts at Minimum Cost," J.G. Titus (US
EPA, 401 M St. SW, Washington DC 20460), Environ. Mgmt., 15(1),
39-58, Jan.-Feb. 1991.
Although the U.S. land area can accommodate the landward migration of
wetlands, the U.S. lacks funds to purchase inundated coastal wetlands and lacks
legal authority to prohibit further development. Proposes that property owners
along coastal lowlands use coastal lands now as they choose and that a legal
mechanism be set up to ensure that land is abandoned if necessary. The expense
would be less than under other mechanisms discussed.
Item #d91may33
"Global Coastal Hazards from Future Sea Level Rise," V. Gornitz
(Inst. Space Studies, NASA-GSFC, New York NY 10025), ibid., 379-398.
The consequences of global sea level rise would be spatially non-uniform
because of several factors. Developed a coastal hazards data base to provide an
overview of the relative vulnerabilities of the world's coastlines and compiled
information on seven variables for the U.S. and parts of Canada and Mexico. A
coastal vulnerability index has been designed to flag high-risk areas; results
for the eastern U.S. are presented as a test case.
Item #d91may34
"Subsidence, Accretion and Sea Level Rise in South San Francisco Bay
Marshes," Limnol. Oceanog., 35(6), 1389-1395, Sep. 1990.
For three sites studied, marsh accretion as a result of sedimentation and peat
formation has been able to compensate for high rates of subsidence and the low
rate of sea level rise, and to maintain the elevation of the marsh surface above
mean high water.
Item #d91may35
"A Search for Accelerations in Records of European Mean Sea Level,"
P.L. Woodworth (Proudman Oceanog. Lab., Bidston Observ., Birkenhead, Merseyside
L43 7RA, UK), Intl. J. Climatol., 10(2), 129-143, Mar. 1990.
Overall, European tide gauge records since 1870 show little evidence for
acceleration, either positive or negative, in regional mean sea levels. A
conceptual study of possible future sea level change at Newlyn in the United
Kingdom has shown that the large rises in mean sea level, anticipated as a
result of the greenhouse effect, should become apparent in the tide gauge
records by the early years of the next century.
Item #d91may36
"Spectroscopic Analysis of Global Tide Gauge Sea Level Data," A.
Trupin (Dept. Phys., Univ. Colorado, Boulder CO 80309), J. Wahr, Geophys. J.
Intl., 100(3), 441-453, Mar. 1990. Global averages of tide gauge
data support the post-glacial model results and suggest that the data are
capable of resolving changes in sea level at the mm yr-1 level.
Item #d91may37
"Sea-Level Rise or Coastal Subsidence?" R.W. Stewart (Ctr.
Earth, Ocean Res., Univ. Victoria, POB 1700, Victoria, B.C. V8W 2Y2, Can.), Atmos.-Ocean,
27(3), 461-477, Sep. 1989.
Sea level rise is so variable in some parts of the world that crustal
movements rather than eustatic sea level rise better explain the variations.
Doubts of the reasons for past sea level rise should be taken into account when
considering possible future rises brought on by climatic change.
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