Did you know that lasers can be used to help measure sea level? This recent article in Earth.com discusses how lasers are being used to measure one part of sea level rise–the amount of sea level rise that is being caused by water coming off of land. The other part is the expansion of the ocean due to warmer temperatures, which until this study was considered to be the major cause of sea level rise we have measured. The laser study shows that water coming off of land is mainly from melting glaciers, but increased irrigation that is depleting groundwater and land use changes such as draining of wetlands are also contributing. A new study reports that global mean sea level (GMSL) has climbed about 3.5 inches since 1993. According to the article, “Roughly 60 percent of the rise is coming from added water mass, and more than four fifths of that added mass came from melting land ice.” The pace of sea level rise is also accelerating, which could make impacts much worse in the coming decades.
Sea level rise is important because even relatively small increases can lead to increased flooding during high tides and can contribute to higher storm surges during hurricanes. It can also negatively affect coastal ecosystems like estuaries and marshes and coastal infrastructure like harbors, industry, and communities.
