rising seas

Antarctica’s Effect on Sea Level Rise in Coming Centuries

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Esprit Smith

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

  

 

Thwaites Glacier. animation shows projections of ice sheet retreat in Antarctica Thwaites Glacier. Credit: NASA/James Yungel

 

 

There are two primary causes of global mean sea level rise – added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers, and the expansion of sea water as it warms. The melting of Antarctica’s ice sheet is currently responsible for 20-25 percent of global sea level rise.

 

But how much of a role will it play hundreds of years in the future?


 

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