Another full of bullshit denier. There is a steady increase in the rise in sea level. However, there is also temperature inertia in the melting of ice. Ever heard of the heat of fusion for ice? No, I thought not. So here is the evidence for a steadily increasing rise in sea level;
"Around 3.6 inches
As Earth warms, melting land ice and warming oceans are causing sea level to rise. Satellite measurements have shown that the global sea level has risen
around 3.6 inches (91 millimeters) since 1993. Data source: Satellite sea level observations.
NASA
Sea Level - Earth Indicator"
And here is what heat of fusion for ice is;
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The heat of fusion of ice is approximately 334 kJ/kg (or 80 cal/g).
The
heat of fusion is the amount of energy required to change a substance from a solid to a liquid at its melting point without changing its temperature
biologyinsights.com+1. For ice, this occurs at
0°C (32°F) under standard atmospheric pressure. When ice melts, the energy supplied is used to
break the hydrogen bonds holding water molecules in a rigid, hexagonal crystalline structure, rather than increasing the kinetic energy of the molecules, so the temperature remains constant during the phase change
biologyinsights.com.
Molecular Explanation
Ice has a
crystalline structure where water molecules are held in place by hydrogen bonds. During melting, the heat energy disrupts these bonds, allowing the molecules to move freely and form liquid water. This process is
endothermic, meaning it absorbs energy from the surroundings
biologyinsights.com+1. The reverse process, freezing, releases the same amount of energy, making the heat of solidification equal in magnitude but opposite in sign
Wikipedia.
Practical Implications
- Cooling beverages: Ice absorbs significant heat as it melts, keeping drinks cold without raising the liquid’s temperature significantly biologyinsights.com.
- Climate regulation: The high heat of fusion of ice plays a role in moderating Earth's climate by absorbing heat during melting and releasing it during freezing biologyinsights.com.
- Calorimetry experiments: The heat of fusion is used to calculate energy transfer in laboratory experiments, such as determining the energy required to melt a known mass of ice in water
sinhainstitute.com.
Understanding the heat of fusion is essential in thermodynamics, meteorology, and engineering, as it governs energy exchange during phase transitions of water."
As you can see, you can raise the temperature of the ice a bit every year, and there is still ice. However, there is a point where that ice becomes water, still at 0 temperature C, but it is water. Now imagine a very large amount of water slowly approaching the temperature at which the ice changes to water. For many years, only a little sea level rise, then, suddenly, every year see major rises in sea level. That is exactly what happened in the last continental glacial melt. A meter a year was not unusual.
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Rate of Rise in Sea Level from Continental Ice Melt
If
all continental ice — including the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, mountain glaciers, and smaller ice caps — melted, global sea level would rise by
about 60–70 meters (200–230 feet) NASA Sea Level Change Portal+1. This is because land-based ice displaces far less water than the same mass of ice floating in the ocean, so when it melts, it adds significant volume to the oceans.
Current and Historical Rates
- Historically, during the retreat of continental glaciers after the Last Glacial Maximum (~20,000 years ago), sea level rose steadily as ice melted and flowed into the oceans. The rate was much slower than today, but it was the dominant driver of sea level change for millennia USGS.gov.
- Today, ice sheet melt is the largest contributor to sea level rise. NASA and the IPCC report that ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica has been responsible for a third of the total mean sea level rise since 2002 NASA Sea Level Change Portal. For example, the Antarctic ice sheet loses about 150 billion metric tons of ice per year, and ice shelves have lost roughly 6,000 gigatons in the past 25 years NASA Sea Level Change Portal.
- Mountain glaciers and smaller ice caps add a smaller but still significant amount, enough to raise sea level by ~1–2 feet if they all melted scienceinsights.org.
Projected Rates
- If ice sheet melt continues at current or accelerated rates, centuries of sea level rise could be measured in tens of centimeters per decade in some regions, with the fastest increases in tropical and mid-latitude coastal zones NSIDC.
- A worst-case scenario for Antarctica — sudden collapse of the Thwaites Glacier — could add over 3 meters (10 feet) to sea level over the next few hundred years NSIDC.
Key Points
- Rate depends on ice sheet stability: Thinning and calving of ice shelves can accelerate melt from the interior ice sheets NASA Sea Level Change Portal.
- Not uniform: Sea level rise from ice melt is not evenly distributed; some areas near ice sheets may see local falls due to changes in ocean currents and water density NSIDC.
- Long-term: Even a fraction of the ice sheets melting today could cause several centimeters of sea level rise in the next century, with the full melt taking centuries to complete.
In short, while the
full melt of all continental ice would raise sea level by over 200 feet, the
current rate of ice loss is already contributing to measurable sea level rise, and future rates will depend on how quickly ice sheets and glaciers continue to melt.
www.extremeweatherwatch.com
