CSIRO finds sea levels rising

CSIRO finds sea levels rising

For the first time in the southern hemisphere, there is evidence that the deep ocean has increased in temperature, resulting in a sea level rise.

The CSIRO reported on May 13 that its oceanographers had found that over 22 years a section of ocean between Australia and New Zealand has increased in temperature by an average of 0.03 degrees to 0.04 degrees Celsius at depths of up to five kilometres.

While the temperature rise appears small, it has changed the density of water and resulted in a calculated sea level rise in the Tasman Sea of two to three centimetres, by thermal expansion. This is consistent with the observed rate of global sea level rise in this century.

The CSIRO scientists making these discoveries, Doctors Nathan Bindoff and John Church, have published the results of their study in the latest issue of the international science journal Nature.

From GLW issue 56