Topic 2: Sea level changes from global, regional to local scale

(AWI, GEOMAR, GFZ, HZG)

How large are the losses of the continental ice masses and how does the sea level react on melt water run-off and ocean warming?

At present, the melt rates of the ice masses increase world-wide and contribute about 40% to the sea level rise. In parti-cular the response of the Greenland ice sheet will be crucial in the future. It loses at present more mass at its margins by ice-berg and melt water discharge than snow accumulates on the central plateau. Open questions are the effects of the glacier and ice-stream dynamics and the response of the ocean, in particular near the coasts, on heating and melt water run-off.

Further information on Topic 2 is available in German.