ABSTRACT
Sea level rise is one of the more widely publicised possible consequences of global warming: for coastal areas it will certainly be one of its most important impacts. Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, WG1 1990) now suggests that the most reliable models project a ‘best estimate’ of an 18-cm rise caused principally by the melting of small glaciers and the general increase in the mass of the sea induced by warming. Thereafter, if there are no limitations on the melting of small glaciers and the general increase in the mass of the sea induced by warming. Thereafter, if there are no limitations on the emission of greenhouse gases (the ‘business as usual’ scenario) the models suggest that the planet will be committed to a steep rise in temperature and continuing and increasing rises in sea level.1
