Global Sea Level Rise

Global rise of sea level and its effects on Earth’s population has always seemed as a myth, unrealistic, or something of little concern.   In the past few decades, scientists have been able to monitor the slow but steady increase in sea level and have made many accurate predictions of what negative effects it could have on Earth on the future.   The main contributor of the rise of sea level is the increasing stress of global warming on Earth.   This warming has been called the “greenhouse gas effect.”   This is due to the sun’s radiation being trapped by the atmosphere with the recently added high levels of carbon dioxide emitted by human activity, such as burning of coal, oil, and natural gases.   Because of the greenhouse effect, surface temperatures therefore increase which in turn melt land glaciers, ice caps, and continental glaciers such as Greenland and Antarctica.
We must not only worry about the continental glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica, but also factor in the loss of glaciers on the land.   These can be found on the tops of the highest mountain peaks on Earth including the Andres in Peru, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and Mount Baker in Washington State.   These mountain glaciers melt faster and have a larger more current impact on sea level rise than do the larger ice masses of Greenland and Antarctica.   This is because they require less heat to melt and land takes less heat to warm up when compared to water.   However, in the long run, water is able to retain heat better than land in which the glaciers in the ocean begin to melt.   The melting process of Greenland and Antarctica happens when the water surrounding the iceberg is warm and therefore, breaks off pieces of the ice along the perimeter.   This eventually begins to work its way all around and inward to the glacier and drastically decreases its overall size.   Another negative effect the melting of Greenland and Antarctica has on the world ocean is the new addition of cold freshwater into the...