Sea levels rising #01 [2007]
Found materials: Perspex sheets (x2) mounted with metal thread
360mmx175mmx62mm
Engraved with Acrylic inlay
Unsigned and undated
Exhibitions: Sur Polar, Buenos Aires, 2008

Sea levels were measured in millimeters
on tide guages at Townsville and Burnie (Australia)
from 1920 to 2000.

Data: Dr John Church
World Climate Research Program, Greenhouse 2007

The most important reason for sea level rise

in the 20th century,

and we expect to be in the 21st century,
is oceans thermal expansion.

As the ocean warms

the water expands,

sea level rises.

The second largest contribution

is from the melting of glaciers and ice caps,

so these are glaciers in places like Alaska,

the Himalayas, New Zealand, Switzerland, etc.,

and they've been melting,

and melting an increasing rate

over the past 50 years.

And the third contribution,

and potentially the largest contribution

on the longer timeframe,

but we don't think there's been a large contribution

in the last century,

are the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.

Greenland contains enough water

to raise sea levels by about seven metres,

and Antarctica over 60 metres.

Dr John Church, 2007

CSIRO transcript:

Sea level on the rise Location:

http://www.csiro.au/multimedia/pfq8.html

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