Rising Sea Levels

Our home planet is an amazing place. It is home to numerous wonders and natural
phenomena that take the breath right out of us, such as the aurora borealis, or the great
pyramids of Egypt. Across the globe there are incredible sights to behold and places that
produce wonder and awe in all who see them. Often times we take these things for granted, that
theyll be there forever. But what we dont realize is that everyday our planet is in danger from
melting glaciers that cause rising sea levels. Rising sea levels pose an increasing threat to the
Earth.
Everyday we are putting our planet more and more at risk. The more carbon dioxide that
we release into the atmosphere the more that the temperature of the Earth will rise because of
the greenhouse effect. One of the major problems of global warming is rising sea levels. Sea
levels over the past 20 years have been rising twice as fast as the past 80 years (National
Geographic). Because of the increasing global temperatures, more and more of the worlds
glaciers are melting. In addition, the increased temperatures can cause the water to expand.
This causes issues for the wildlife that rely on the ice for survival. Animals such as polar bears
are feeling the effects of diminishing glacier levels; they have less space to roam for hunting and
are being forced to swim long distances in order to survive.
However, polar habitats are not the only habitats that are influenced by rapidly rising sea
levels. The rising sea can have large impacts all around the globe. The areas that will receive
the most devastating effects from increasing ocean levels are primarily coastal areas. The
further that water reaches inland the more devastating the effects become. It can have impacts
such as coastal flooding, erosion, contamination of aquifers and other habitats (National
Geographic). Not to mention the threat that this would pose on people living in coastal areas.
They would be more susceptible to flooding and, if the seas get high enough, be forced to
abandon their homes. This is a serious issue because around 40 percent of the worlds
population lives within 60 miles of the coast (climate hot map). Evidence of this is already
present today as two islands in the Kiribati chain have already disappeared completely (WWF).
In addition to flooding and destruction of habitats, another major issue that could arise
from increasing sea levels is sea storms. With more water to supply them, storms such as
hurricanes and tsunamis will become bigger and more powerful. With more power, storms will
be able to reach further inland and affect more people. Also, the storms will be more powerful
causing them to have a larger wake of destruction (National Geographic). Situations like these
are predicted to in the near future because sea levels are continuing to rise more and more
rapidly. Studies show that sea levels could rise anywhere between six and a half feet , which
would be enough to submerge many cities along the U.S. East coast, and 23 feet by the year
2100, which would be enough to put London underwater (National Geographic).
People may not realize it yet, but our planet is in real danger from rising sea levels. If
sea levels continue to rise as predicted, than many of these threats may become pressing
issues to our planet. In fact, it may already be too late to change the fate of our glaciers and sea
levels. But if we dont try to do something to save our planet soon, we will certainly lead it and
ourselves to our doom.