Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Rising of Sea Level, 06/04/2017
Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Rising of Sea Level, 06/04/2017. Sea level rise is a very slow phenomenon and is manifested globally with pockets of sea level rise/fall trends. The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that global mean sea level has risen by 19 cm over the period 1901-2010. Although the mean rate of global averaged sea level rise was found to be 1.7mm/year between 1901 and 2010, the accelerated rates of rise in sea level were 2.0 mm/year and to 3.2 mm/year during the periods 1971-2010 and 1993 – 2010, respectively. The accelerated rise sea level during the last 2 decades has been observed from both tide gauge records and satellite observations. This rise in mean sea level can be attributed to both natural variability and the effect of global warming. Most of the sea level rise is due to thermal expansion of sea water due to increase in temperatures.