The Oceanography Society will publish a special issue of the Journal "Oceanography" on the topic of sea level. Understanding the causes and consequences of sea level rise, and ultimately predicting its timing and magnitude, as global temperatures increase is one of the most pressing scientific problems of the day, with considerable socioeconomic impacts for those who live in coastal and low-lying areas. The special issue of will include articles written by scientists who use different techniques in their research: scientific ocean drilling cores; satellite measurements; ocean observations from floats, drifters, and moored arrays; and modeling, among others. The publication of the special issue will be jointly supported by NSF and NOAA, NSF's share of 25K is 50% of the total cost.
Intellectual Merit In spite of its importance predicting future rise remains one of the great challenges for climate science. To truly predict sea level rise a vigorous and interdisciplinary research effort, including learning about sea level fluctuations through Earth?s history is needed. The special issue of will bring together authors from numerous disciplines to explore all of these aspects of sea level rise, from the 100 m plus rises and falls of the past ice age, to modern-day sea level rise and beyond.
Broader Impacts Articles will be written for a broad, scientifically literate audience so that cross-disciplinary discussions are facilitated and science is also transmitted in a readable and professional way to managers and decision-makers. Articles will be written by top researchers in their fields and include references cited, and are peer reviewed. All articles are published online as free access (no password required to retrieve an article).
The Oceanography Society (TOS) published a special issue of Oceanography magazine in June 2011 (volume 24, number 2) on the topic of sea level. Understanding the causes and consequences of sea level rise, and ultimately predicting its timing and magnitude, as global temperatures increase is an important scientific problem with considerable socioeconomic impacts for those who live in coastal and low-lying areas. Predicting future sea level rise remains one of the great challenges for climate science. As understanding improves of how ice sheets and glaciers behave in a warming climate, how the ocean absorbs and redistributes heat, and how Earth’s own gravity will be affected by the ice loss from the continents, a rough picture of future sea level rise is beginning to emerge. This issue of Oceanography included articles written by scientists who use different techniques in their research—scientific ocean drilling cores; satellite measurements; ocean observations from floats and drifters, and moored arrays; and modeling, among others—providing different perspectives on the study of this topic. The list of all articles published appears below, along with reference information. This issue was distributed to Oceanography magazine subscribers, and all articles are freely available to the public for viewing and downloading at: http://tos.org/oceanography/archive/24-2.html. Sea Level: An Introduction to the Special Issue J. Willis, L. Miller, and G. Mountain. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):22–23, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.24. The Moving Boundaries of Sea Level Change: Understanding the Origins of Geographic Variability M.E. Tamisiea and J.X. Mitrovica. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):24–39, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.25. A 180-Million-Year Record of Sea Level and Ice Volume Variations from Continental Margin and Deep-Sea Isotopic Records K.G. Miller, G.S. Mountain, J.D. Wright, and J.V. Browning. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):40–53, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.26. Global Climate and Sea Level: Enduring Variability and Rapid Fluctuations Over the Past 150,000 Years Y. Yokoyama and T.M. Esat. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):54–69, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.27. Holocene Sea Level Changes Along the United States' Atlantic Coast S.E. Engelhart, B.P. Horton, and A.C. Kemp. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):70–79, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.28. Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Changes in Sea Level P.L. Woodworth, W.R. Gehrels, and R.S. Nerem. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):80–93, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.29. Land Ice and Sea Level Rise: A Thirty-Year Perspective W.T. Pfeffer. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):94–111, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.30. Ocean Density Change Contributions to Sea Level Rise G.C. Johnson and S.E. Wijffels. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):112–121, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.31. Balancing the Sea Level Budget E.W. Leuliette and J.K. Willis. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):122–129, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.32. Understanding and Projecting Sea Level Change J.A. Church, J.M. Gregory, N.J. White, S.M. Platten, and J.X. Mitrovica. 2011. Oceanography24(2):130–143, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.33. Planning for the Impacts of Sea Level Rise R.J. Nicholls. 2011. Oceanography 24(2):144–157, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.34.
