Global Sea Level Rise Symposium

Global Sea Level Rise: Observation, Causes, and Prediction
A Joint Earth Sciences U.S. National Committees Session
at the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2009 Annual Meeting

Monday, February 16, 2009
9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
2009 American Association for the Advancement of Sciences Annual Meeting
Chicago, Illinois

This three-hour session focused on the scientific understanding of sea level rise as a result of anthropogenic climate change. Leading scientists conveyed the latest findings and highlighted the interdisciplinary science of sea level towards the increase of public awareness of the consequences of sea level rise and its potential social and economic impacts. The speakers included Richard Alley (Penn State), Anny Cazenave (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, France), Georg Kaser (Universität Innsbruck, Austria), Sydney Levitus (NOAA), Stefan Rahmstorf (Universität Potsdam, Germany), and C.K. Shum (The Ohio State University). Discussants included John Church (CSIRO, Australia) and Robert Muir-Wood (Risk Management Solutions, Inc., United Kingdom).

This jointly co-sponsored event was co-organized by the following USNC/IUGG members:
William C. Boicourt, Moderator (University of Maryland, Cambridge, MD)
Robin Muench (Earth and Space Research, Seattle, WA)
C.K. Shum, (The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH)

Global Sea Level Budget: Observations and Geophysical Causes
Anny Cazenave, Center National d’Etudes Spatiales, Toulouse, France
View 4 MB PDF
State of Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Ice-Sheet Modeling
Richard Alley, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
View 1.8 MB PDF
Role of Mountain Glaciers and Ice Caps in Sea Level Rise: past, Present, and Future
Georg Kaser, Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
View 1.6 MB PDF
State of the Steric Sea Level Rise, 1955-2003
Sydney Levitus, NOAA Ocean Climate Laboratory, Silver Spring, MD
View 1.3 MB PDF
Quantification of Geophysical Causes of Present-Day Sea Level Rise
C.K. Shum, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
View 4.4 MB PDF
Projecting Future Sea Level Rise: Learning from the Past
Stefan Rahmstorf, Universität Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
Sea-Level Variability and Rise: Understanding the Past, Implications for the Future
Discussant: John Church, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Hobart, Australia
View 818 KB PDF
Exploring the Costs of Sea Level Rise: Should We Focus on ‘Means’ or ‘Extremes’?
Discussant: Robert Muir-Wood, Risk Management Solutions, Inc., London, United Kingdom
View 3.9 MB PDF