Sea Level Rise, Volume 75: History and Consequences (International Geophysics)

Sea Level Rise, History and Consequences includes a special emphasis on the evidence for historical sea level change; case studies are used to demonstrate the resulting consequences. A CD-ROM is included which contain tide gauge data and trends of relative sea level from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level. The material on the CD-ROM is either in the form of text files, or web sites that can be opened by widely available web-browsers. Sea level is expected to rise as much as 60-100 centimeters over the next century due to greenhouse-induced global warming -- or at least that is what the some scientists predict. However, the concept of sea level is extremely complex, which makes the prediction of sea level rise anything but certain. The reviewers are in consensus in enthusiastically endorsing this comprehensive book and CD-ROM treatment. This book will be a comprehensive review of the subject using the data themselves (on CD-ROM) to illustrate the principles involved, rather than detailed mathematical treatments. The book should be readily accessible to upper division and first-year graduate students in the environmental sciences, geography, geology, and other interdisciplinary fields. Four pages (up to 16 pages) of color in the printed text. The book will have wide appeal. It will be read by geologists, geophysicists, climatologists, oceanographers, meteorologists, environmental scientists, geomorphologists, coastal engineers, and policy makers in all of these fields. Content: Contributors Page xi Foreword Pages xiii-xv John A. Knauss Preface Pages xvii-xix Chapter 1 An introduction to sea level Original Research Article Pages 1-11,I-XVI Bruce C. Douglas Chapter 2 Late holocene sea level variation Original Research Article Pages 13-36 Michael S. Kearney Chapter 3 Sea level change in the era of the recording tide gauge Original Research Article Pages 37-64 Bruce C. Douglas Chapter 4 Global glacial isostatic adjustment and modern instrumental records of relative sea level history Original Research Article Pages 65-95 W.R. Peltier Chapter 5 Impoundment, groundwater mining, and other hydrologic transformations: Impacts on global sea level rise Original Research Article Pages 97-119 Vivien Gornitz Chapter 6 Observation of sea level change from satellite altimetry Original Research Article Pages 121-163 R.S. Nerem, G.T. Mitchum Chapter 7 Decadal variability of sea level Original Research Article Pages 165-180 W. Sturges, B.G. Hong Chapter 8 Social and economic costs of sea level rise Original Research Article Pages 181-223 Stephen P. Leatherman Index Pages 225-228 International geophysics series Pages 229-232 Renata Dmowska, James R. Holton, H. Thomas Rossby An introduction to sea level / Bruce C. Douglas Late Holocene sea level variations / Michael S. Kearney Sea level change in the era of the recording tide gauge / Bruce C. Douglas Global glacial isostatic adjustment and modern instrumental records of relative sea level history / W.R. Peltier Impoundment, groundwater mining, and other hydrologic transformations : impacts on global sea level rise / Vivien Gornitz Observations of sea level change from satellite altimetry / R. Steven Nerem and Gary T. Mitchum Decadal variability of sea level / W. Sturges and B.G. Hong Social and economic costs of sea level rise / Stephen P. Leatherman. CD-ROM contains: Monthly mean tide gauge data from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level -- Animated presentation of global sea surface temperature anomalies during the year 1982-1999. Compared to spectacular geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes, the contemporary rate of long-term sea level rise appears benign.