19-Feb-2001
Excerpt: Ocean warming and thermal expansion will be the largest contributor to sea-level rise during the 21st century, says an Australian scientist.
Coastal storm surges will become an increasing threat to life and property, says Dr John Church, a scientist at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre.
Dr Church was a lead author on sea-level rise for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's assessment approved in Shanghai, China last month.
The Third Assessment Report - Climate Change 2001:The Scientific Basis - was prepared over the past three years by several hundred experts reviewing the published science, and more than 100 scientific authors drawing this together into the final report.
Global average sea level is projected to rise between 9 and 88 cm between 1990 and 2100 for a global average surface temperature rise projected to be between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees Celsius.
Addressing a national conference in Hobart of climate scientists and meteorologists today, Dr Church said computer calculations indicate increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will result in warmer atmospheric and ocean temperatures.
- Storm Surges Increase With Warming Oceans , CSIRO Australia , Science Daily, 01/02/14