ABSTRACT
In this chapter the physical processes that determine the rise in sea level that will accompany global warming are discussed, followed by a presentation of recent projections of sea level rise through to the year 2100. Most of the work on possible future sea level rise has focused on the short term (the 21st century). However, the sea level rise issue, perhaps more than any other issue in the climate system response to emissions of GHGs, involves very long time scales and very long lags between the driving factors and the ultimate response of the system. Because of these long lags, an irreversible commitment to substantial sea level rise (several metres) could be made centuries before it occurs. This chapter therefore closes with a discussion of the potential for very large increases in sea level over periods of many centuries to thousands of years.
