Surface Mass Loading on a Dynamic Earth: Complexity and Contamination in the Geodetic Analysis of Global Sea‐Level Trends

Climate change impacts on tropical cyclones and extreme sea levels in the South Pacific — A regional assessment

“…These effects produce a relative sea-level fall in the vicinity of the ablating ice mass and relative rise with increasing distance from the ice sheet. The ice caps and glaciers and the ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica each have distinct sea level response patterns associated with their melting and these show relatively higher rates of sea level rise in the Pacific Ocean (Gomez et al, 2010;Mitrovica et al, 2010). These all indicate that sea levels over the western Pacific within approximately 25°of the Equator will rise at a rate that is 10-20% higher than the global average rate from the ice melt contribution.…”

“…As discussed by Mitrovica et al (2010), rapid melting of ice sheets will lead to non-uniform sea level rise across the globe. This is because there is a mutual gravitational attraction between the ice sheets and oceans, which draws the sea levels up against the ice sheets.…”

The effect of melting land-based ice masses on sea-level around the Australian coastline

“…Yokoyama et al 2000), and the abovementioned GIA, leading to non-uniform RSL changes across the Earth (e.g. Clark & Lingle 1977;Lambeck 1993;Mitrovica et al 2001Mitrovica et al , 2009Mitrovica et al , 2010Mitrovica et al , 2011Milne et al 2009;Kuhn et al 2010). The GIA contributions include the decreased gravitational attraction between the diminished ice mass and nearby ocean water, leading to sealevel in the vicinity of the ice mass (known as the nearfield) to rise at rates less than the global average, and in some cases fall, while far from the ice sheets (in the farfield) sea-level will rise at rates greater than the global average (Lambeck 1993).…”

“…Munk 2003;Bindoff et al 2007;Wunsch et al 2007). Other processes affecting RSL include the Earth's ongoing response to the melting of the late Pleistocene ice sheets and the subsequent loading of the ocean basins following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 26.5 to 19 ka BP;Clark et al 2009), termed glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA; Lambeck , 1993Peltier 1999Peltier , 2004Mitrovica et al 2010), which also accompanies current ice-mass changes (see below). In addition, there is the exchange of water between terrestrial reservoirs and the oceans by natural and anthropogenic processes (e.g.…”

Upgrade and Design of Coastal Structures Exposed to Climate Changes

“…Global and regional climate change effects may significantly differ due to altered astronomical tidal ranges at some coastlines (Mitrovica et al, 2010) and due to land subsidence and uplift from glacial isostatic adjustment at some locations .…”