Satellites Reveal Differences In Sea Level Rises

by Phillip F. Schewe from Inside Science News Service

WASHINGTON (ISNS) - Glaciers are retreating and parts of the ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica are melting into the ocean. This must result in a rise in sea level, but by how much? 

New maps show rise in sea level greater in some places than others
Relative sea-level change rates in millimeters per year.
Credit: GRACE

A new measurement of the gravity everywhere around the globe with a pair of orbiting satellites provides the first ever map detailing the rises across different parts of the globe.

According to the new results, the annual world average sea level rise is about 1 millimeter, or about 0.04 of an inch.  In some areas, such as the Pacific Ocean near the equator and the waters offshore from India and north of the Amazon River, the rise is larger.

In some areas, such as the east coast of the United States, the sea level has actually dropped a bit over the past decade.

The surface of the sea is a constantly shifting fabric. To achieve a truer sense of how much the sea is changing in any one place, scientists measure the strength of gravity in that place. Measuring gravity over a patch of ocean or dry land provides an estimate of how much mass lies in that region. The measured mass depends on the presence of such things as mountains, glaciers, mineral deposits, and oceans. 
If the gravity measurement for a place is changing, this could mean that the place is losing mass because of a retreating glacier or gaining mass if, as in the ocean surrounding Antarctica, new melt water is streaming in.
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE for short, consists of a pair of satellites moving in an orbit that takes them over the South and North Poles. The two craft, nicknamed Tom and Jerry after the television cartoon characters, send constant signals to each other to determine their relative spacing to about 10 microns -- one-tenth the width of a human hair -- over a distance of 130 miles. If the first craft flies above a slightly more weighty area of the Earths' surface -- like a mountain range -- it will be tugged a bit out of place, an effect picked up by a change in the relative spacing of the craft.
In these way monthly gravity maps of pieces of land or ocean about 180 miles wide can be made with high precision. The new report for the years of 2003-09 looks at how much mass has been lost from land areas and how much mass has been gained by ocean areas. 
One of the authors of the report, Riccardo Riva from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, said that average annual rise in sea level rise due to meltwater entering the ocean is about 1 millimeter, but that an additional rise will come from that fact that as the average temperature rises so does the ocean temperature, which in turn causes the volume of the ocean to increase. 
"The most important result of the new report is the measurement of the sea level changes for specific regions of the Earth that are based on direct and global measurements of mass change," Riva said.
Mark Tamisiea, who works at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, England, and was not involved in the GRACE work, believes the new report represents good research.
"As coastal sea level changes impact society, it is important for us to understand as much about the local differences from the global average as possible," Tamisiea said. "These results are one piece in that puzzle."
"GRACE is definitely the 'real deal' when it comes from measuring climate change from space," said Joshua Willis, an ocean expert at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "This work by Dr. Riva and company reminds us that the world's oceans don't behave like a giant bathtub. As the ice melts and the water finds its way back to the ocean, the resulting sea level rise won't be the same all over the world."
"These effects are still small in today's rising ocean, but as we look out over the next century, the patterns of sea level change due to melting ice will be magnified many times over as the ice sheets thin and melt," Willis said.
Looking at the actual map of sea level rises presents an ironic twist. Offshore the areas where melting ice is most rapidly falling into the ocean -- such as Greenland and Antarctica -- the sea level appears to be falling.
"The main reason for this is the rebound of the solid Earth," explained Riva. "Less ice causes the continents go up, and therefore sea level drops. Meltwater distributes around quite quickly, in most cases, so there is no accumulation due to that."
The new GRACE results appear in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Exciting debate kicks off innovation forum

Seychelles Nation - 15.11.2010
An exciting debate led by former space scientist Dr Cheick Diarra kicked off the Seychelles Innovation Forum which was launched by Vice-President Danny Faure at the School of Education on Friday.

Dr Diarra is a former engineer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) of the US government responsible for space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.

He is now the chairman of Microsoft Africa and once reported directly to Bill Gates who founded the software company, which invented the Windows operating system.

Dr Diarra told ministers, diplomats, top government officials, entrepreneurs, students and others at the meeting that innovation should seek to achieve goals faster, cheaper and in better ways than before.

He said such efforts should be led by knowledgeable young people who are enthusiastic and “dumb enough to try anything” with experienced advisers who have failed so many times they are afraid to try anything new, to advise the young why not to try a new idea, based on why they believe it may not work.

He kept his captivated audience at the edge of their seats as he narrated how he took part in designing and guiding craft to Mars each time using less money and time than in previous missions, saying what pains his team took not to send a single bacterium to outer space.

Dr Diarra invited Dr Rolph Payet to visit the 500,000 population Creole-speaking Cape Verde archipelago off the scientist’s native Senegal to see innovations there.

Welcoming President James Michel’s vision of a knowledge-based society which he said is within reach, he said Seychelles has the chance to make more exemplary innovations for the world.

Dr Payet – who is the vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles – said it is developing ties with Microsoft through which the university will get software from the company at reduced prices.

In return, he told Nation, the company would gain as the graduates would be more inclined to use its software.

He said the country has evolved from a copra and cinnamon-dependent economy to one reliant on tourism and fisheries that is now becoming a financial, knowledge and innovation services-driven one.

Mr Faure said setting up the forum was in itself a form of innovation and listed many of our unique achievements.

“The forum is an initiative of the Seychelles Innovation and Technology Council which was launched by President Michel earlier this year. It is part of our vision to transform Seychelles into a knowledge-based society,” said Mr Faure.

“The Seychellois people as a nation have in the process of nation building shown they are innovative,” he said, noting our considerable progress in education, health and social welfare which have ranked us among the best performing countries of Africa.

He gave our tanker fleet, establishment of the university and ability to steer our economy back on track as examples of Seychelles’ globally notable innovations.

Many Strong Voices speak out in Seychelles

Seychelles Nation - 29.10.2010
Activists from small island and Arctic states are meeting at the University of Seychelles (UniSey) campus at Anse Royale to talk about climate change and discuss their strategies for the coming five years.

The forum has been organised by the steering committee of Many Strong Voices (MSV), a platform where islanders and indigenous peoples of the Arctic combine to bring attention to the issues of climate change.

It is also a growing global network of researchers, policy makers, community organisations and Small Island Developing States that promotes the security and sustainability of coastal communities.

Around 15 people from Canada, St Lucia and Alaska, among others, are attending the meeting, which opened yesterday morning and closes today.

“The role of MSV is to peel back the veneer that science has projected and give a human face to the issue of climate change,” said Cletus Springer from St Lucia.

He explained that the islanders affected by the issue are not asking for too much – just that their way of life is protected, allowing them the simple pleasures of walking on a beach and taking a dip in the sea.

“Today, as we get together for our strategy meeting, let us combine our expertise to further impact on global decisions,” said UniSey president Dr Rolph Payet, who officially launched the meeting.

“I am aware of our resource and capacity constraints, but we have shown ourselves to be focused, resilient and determined in everything we do, and in many of our initiatives we have reached politicians as well as community leaders and even students.

“However bleak the outcome may be, we should strive to build more partnerships. And as we look ahead to Cancun, let us resolve to make known the issues facing our small nations and peoples today.”

The next United Nations climate change conference will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from November 29 to December 10.

One of the issues the delegates also talked about was making the industrialised countries more aware of the issue as the changes in climate affect the whole world.

“There are still climate change sceptics who do not believe in the real threat – in fact they are holding a convention in London right now, calling it Climate Fools’ Day,” said Mr Springer.

Dr Payet also asked for a credible and acceptable climate change pact, saying: “I am saddened by the continued lack of political assertiveness at the global level to resolve the climate change issue.”

Also during the meeting, the delegates looked at pictures of the effects of climate change in different areas of the world and listened to stories of the impact on the lives of people living there.
MSV was established in 2005 and partners with the Sea Level Rise Foundation in Seychelles.

Small islands ‘face huge energy challenge’

Seychelles Nation - 26.10.2010
Small island states such as Seychelles face a huge challenge in securing their long-term energy supply, President James Michel’s special adviser Dr Rolph Payet has said.

He was speaking at the weekend at the preparatory commission for the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he was representing Joel Morgan, Minister for Home Affairs, Environment and Transport.

Also in the Seychelles delegation were Didier Dogley, principal secretary for environment, and Philip Morin, chief executive of the Seychelles Energy Commission.

In his speech during the high-level segment of the meeting, Dr Payet said: ‘Small Island Developing States such as Seychelles are facing an unprecedented task in ensuring long-term security of energy supply. The link between use of fossil fuels and climate change – which threatens our very existence – is undeniable, and our goal towards a low-carbon economy should be relentless.”

The conference, on October 23 and 24, adopted its 2011 work programme and budget, and made preparations for its first assembly, also next year.

The government of the UAE is the host of Irena and has announced a fund to finance renewable energy projects in developing countries to the tune of 183 million dirhams (about R200 million) a year.

During the visit to Abu Dhabi, the Seychelles delegation also met officials of Masdar, the UAE renewable energy company.

In January 2009, an agreement to develop a windfarm in Seychelles was signed with the UAE government after talks there by President Michel.

The windfarm is one more project funded through the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to benefit the Seychellois people. The 7MW farm is already in its advanced planning stages and construction is expected to start late next year.