Sea-Level Rise and Affected in The Coastal Areas (Term Paper Sample)

YunLi Lai Cynthia Davis, Ph.D. English 110 September 22, 2009 Sea-Level Rise and Affected in The Coastal Areas Recently, a group of scientists warn that the sea-level rise caused by global warming is much worse than we thought before. Generally scientists agree that sea-level rise is becoming a serious problem which probably will ruin most coastal cities in the world. Scientists forecast that by the end of this century, the average temperature of the world will rise about 1.4 to 5.8 degree Celsius (scientist qting from Anil). In response to this prediction, people are unusually calm and seems not know what that indicates. When people see the news that reports that the temperature is rising, they will just simply think the climate is getting hotter and it is a long-term event. However, does this really only mean that climate is getting hotter? The answer is negative. Actually, temperature rising will cause a devastating consequence: sea-level rise. Jeff Williams says, “This worldwide, eustatic sea-level rise results from such factors as melting of continental glaciers and ice sheets and expansion of ocean waters heated by global warming” (William). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast “a sea level rise of between 19 and 59 centimetres by 2100” (Panel qting from Ananthaswamy). Most people don’t understand how grave the problem is. They just think the sea-level rise is far from their daily lives and it is a long-term event. Ananthaswamy points out, “Actually, the oceans are already rising. Global average sea level rose about 17 centimetres in the 20th century, and the rate of rise is increasing” (Ananthaswamy). More than half of people in the world are living in the coastal areas. According to the report from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “the total cost for a one meter rise in the USA would be $270-475 billion, ignoring future development”(EPA). Indeed, the sea-level rise is a long-term process, which is not changing obviously. It doesn’t mean that its influence it too little to be ignored. On the contrary, the sea-level rise is happening every moment, even though people can’t realize how serious it is. It is a process of accumulation. Ananthaswamy emphasizes that “The sea-level rise, which is caused by melting of glaciers and thermal expansion of the oceans, is becoming a serious problem and will affect people’s lives significantly in the future”(Ananthaswamy). The current situation requires people to pay more attentions to this problem and be well prepared, or the disaster will happen. There are two major contributors: melting of glaciers and thermal expansion of the oceans. To begin with the contributor of melting of glaciers, as people know that melting of glaciers is mainly because of global warming. As Ananthaswamy refers: The single biggest contributor to sea level rise over the past century has been the HYPERLINK "http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18725141.500-global-warming-the-flaw-in-the-thaw.html"
melting of glaciers and ice caps outside of Greenland and Antarctica, from Alaska to the Himalayas. According to HYPERLINK "http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1143906" \t "nsarticle"
one recent estimate, the continued loss of this ice will add another 10 to 20 centimetres to sea level by 2100. It cannot get much worse than this: even if all this ice melted, sea level would only rise by about 33 centimetres”(Ananthaswamy). Melting of glaciers is caused by many complicated factors and mainly by over-emission. Actually, melting of glaciers is a trend that can’t be stopped. According to Ananthaswamy, “Even if all emissions stopped today, sea level would continue to rise” (Ananthaswamy). In Rahmstorf’s words, “The current rate of rise would continue for centuries if temperatures are constant, and that would add about 30 centimetres per century to global sea level. If we burn all fossil fuels, we are likely to end up with many metres of sea level rise in the long run, very likely more than 10 metres in my view” (Rahmstorf qting from Ananthaswamy). Besides, there is another major contributor to the sea-level rise, which is thermal expansion of the ocean. Matters will expand when they are heated. In the same way, regarding the ocean as the matter, as the temperature gets higher, the ocean also will expand, causing sea-level rise. As Ananthaswamy says, “A study found that even if all emissions stopped once carbon dioxide levels hit 450 parts per million (ppm) - an unrealistically optimistic scenario - thermal expansion alone would cause sea level to rise by 20 centimetres by 2100, and by another 10 centimetres by 3000. At the other extreme, if emissions peak at 1200 ppm, thermal expansion alone would lead to a 0.5-metre rise by 2100, and another 1.4 metres by 3000” (Ananthaswamy). The sea-level rise is a process of accumulation. People don’t realize that it is changing, but the sea-level rise is really happening and may cause a disaster one day when it reaches some points. Once quantitative changes lead to qualitative transformation, there will be devastating result. Many countries in the world are threatened by the sea-level rise, including the island nations in the Pacific and the Africa and some low-lying nations, such as Bengal. There is an example reported by BBC, “The Pacific nation of Tuvalu has secured New Zealand's agreement to accept an annual quota of its citizens as refugees. They want to leave Tuvalu because they say rising sea levels are driving them out” (BBC). Furthermore, it will cost hundreds of millions dollars to adapt the sea-level rise. In the USA, the total length of the coastlines is about twenty thousand kilometers and the area is about thirty-two thousand square kilometers. If the sea-level rise about 1 meter, it will cost about one hundred and fifty six billion dollars. Besides, at that time, the modern coastal cities in the world such as New York, London, and ShangHai will sink, resulting in homeless of millions of people. People like watching the Hollywood disaster films, but few of us will think that the disasters showed in the films may come to our real ...