Contribution of glacier melt to sea-level rise since AD 1865: a regionally differentiated calculation
The contribution of glacier melt, including the Greenland ice-sheet, to sea-level change since AD 1865 is estimated on the basis of modelled sensitivity of glacier mass balance to climate change and historical temperature data. Calculations are done in a regionally differentiated manner to overcome...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1997
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/21575 |
| Summary: | The contribution of glacier melt, including the Greenland ice-sheet, to sea-level change since AD 1865 is estimated on the basis of modelled sensitivity of glacier mass balance to climate change and historical temperature data. Calculations are done in a regionally differentiated manner to overcome the inhomogeneity of the global distribution of glaciers. A distinction is made between changes in summer temperature and in temperature over the rest of the year. Our best estimate of the ice melt in the period 1865-1990 in terms of sea-level change equivalent is 5.7 cm (2.7 cm for glaciers and 3.0 cm for the Greenland ice-sheet). Additional calculations show that simpler methods, like using annual or even global mean temperature anomaly give estimates that differ by up to 55%. Consequently, a regionally di¤erentiating approach is advised for making projections of glacier melt with GCM output. |
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