Contribution of glacier melt to sea-level rise since AD 1865: a regionally differentiated calculation

• Main Authors: Zuo, Z., Oerlemans, J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1997
• Subjects: Natuur- en Sterrenkunde; Greenland; glacier; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/21575

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.