The mechanisms of how Earth systems work are more complicated than I could possibly summarize here, but I've tried my best to highlight the relevant concepts.

• Table of Contents

How Climate is Measured

You probably already knew that the Earth is warming. But in case you want to learn more,

• here are the facts.

Sea Level Rise

This is a fantastic video that breaks down why the ocean rises unevenly and why NYC's sea level is rising faster than the global avg.

[Sea level rise is so much more than melting ice // Verge Science // https://youtu.be/SA5zh3yG_-0](https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/SA5zh3yG_-0)

Sea level rise is so much more than melting ice // Verge Science // https://youtu.be/SA5zh3yG_-0

Basically, there are 2 things changing: ocean height (increasing) and land height (decreasing)

• loss of ice mass reduces ice sheets gravitational pull, making sea levels rise elsewhere
• Warm water physically takes up more space per unit mass (thermal expansion) and the addition of melted freshwater ice reduces salinity. This decreased density means the water sinks less readily...
• ... drastically slowing down the Gulf Stream Current, causing a pileup of water on the US east coast 0:02:34
• US coasts are slowly sinking bc there are no longer glaciers forcing the land upward (post glacial rebound) 0:03:26

Arctic Ice Melt

Post Glacial Rebound

In class (4/24/20), we actually talked about this phenomenon of landmass being compressed and released by glacial ice, aka Isostatic Land Rebound or Crustal Rebound.

You can see the bedrock where the glaciers sat in the last ice age is rebounding back into its uncompressed state, whereas bordering areas, like the coast of the US, are sinking back to a flatter shape.

Cornell EAS 2680// http://cdn.antarcticglaciers.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/milne_shennan_fig11.png