Overview

In this section you will find materials that support the implementation of EarthComm, Section 5: How Do Glaciers Affect Sea Level?.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyze and interpret data to explain the relationship between the growth and melting of ice sheets and changes in sea level.
• Use mathematics to analyze and interpret glacial and sea-level data.
• Use a model to demonstrate the effects of a melting ice sheet on the lithosphere.

Inquiring Further

1. To learn about pressures at the bottom of glaciers, visit the following website:

Deformation and Sliding, AntarcticGlaciers.org
Describes how pressure at the base of glaciers affects the behavior of ice at depth within ice sheets and glaciers.

2. To view the Vostok ice core data, visit the following web site:

Vostok Ice Core, NOAA
Search the Paleo database for information about the Vostok ice core. Articles include the CO₂ record and evidence for Milankovitch cylcles.

Vostok Ice Core Data Analysis, SERC Carlton
Examine 160,000 years of ice core data from Vostok Station. Data includes ice age, ice depth, carbon dioxide, methane, dust, and deuterium isotope relative abundance (dD).

Resources

To learn more about this topic, visit the following web sites:

How Glaciers Affect Global Sea Level

Is Sea Level Rising?, NOAA
Reviews terms commonly used to describe sea level change, the causes of long- and short-term sea level change, how sea level change is tied to global warming, how weather impacts sea level, and more.

Ice Sheets, Glaciers, and Warming Seas, NASA
Introduces ice sheet and glacier formation, their importance in regards to influencing and monitoring global climate, their influence on atmospheric and oceanic circulation, how glaciers move, and their impact on sea level change. Also looks at the technology that scientists use to study glaciers and find sea level.

Sea Level and Climate, USGS
Looks at how glacial-interglacial cycles impact sea level and how the melting of today's glaciers could cause sea level to rise.

The Contribution of the Cryosphere to Changes in Sea Level, National Snow and Ice Data Center
Reviews the influence of glaciers on sea level. Includes a graph that shows how glaciers have contributed to sea level changes over the past 40 years.