Is the sea level rising rapidly because of global warming?
The sea level has been rising at about a 18 cm (7 inches) a century since the end of the last ice age. Between 1993 and 2003, the sea level rose about 3.1mm/year, or a rate of 31 cm (about 1 foot) a century. There is much disagreement about what may happen to the sea level in the future, even among climatologists and oceanographers, and even if global warming happens as forecast by the global climate models. 19. Will some island nations disappear due to sea-level rise? Yes, even from the background rate (the rate at which the sea level has been rising without global warming). But the jury is still out as to whether the sea level is rising more rapidly than that, and therefore might be causing accelerated problems of this kind. (Of course, healthy coral reefs grow and in the past have kept pace with sea level rise.) 20. Will global warming affect world food production? If global warming occurs, it will change where the best areas for agriculture will be. Present forecasting methods are
