1. by Kate Potter
Oceans cover almost three quarters of the
planet’s surface and contain 97 percent of the
water on Earth. It’s hard to believe, but this
vast amount of water is getting bigger. As a
result, sea levels are rising. So what does that
mean for those who live close to the sea?
↓
A roller coaster is
swallowed by the
Atlantic ocean in the
aftermath of Hurricane
Sandy.
Photograph: “Restore the Shore” by Hypnotica Studios Infinite from http://goo.gl/mflFW3 is licensed under CC BY 2.0, edited from original
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WHY IS THAT?
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7. 10← Previous"Glaciers and Sea Level Rise" by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from http://goo.gl/9RHZvAis licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Melting glacier↑
8. 11← Previous"Glaciers and Sea Level Rise" by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from http://goo.gl/lgzsFK is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Large chunks of ice break off the front of the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina. This process is called calving.↑
9. 12← Previous"Sea level rise at Alligator River Refuge" by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters from http://goo.gl/Tcuxcm/ is licensed under CC
BY 2.0 →Next
An aerial view of submerged trees after a storm.↑
10. 13← Previous"Bloom in the Ross Sea [detail]" by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from http://goo.gl/I24ehg is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Bloom in the Ross Sea, south of New Zealand, in Antarctica. The bloom is an annual massive growth of phytoplankton in response to increased
sunlight.
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11. 14← Previous"Hawk's Crag, Buller Gorge, New Zealand 1977" by Phillip Capper from http://goo.gl/cAFciS is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
The height of flooding in Buller Gorge (every few years the river in flood covers the road: in the late 1960s it
reached the top of the telephone pole).
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12. 15← Previous"Flood damage" by Aidan from http://goo.gl/GQa4ZR is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Mud left by a flood↑
13. 16← Previous"Eroded Road at Whatarangi Bluff, Palliser Bay" by Karora from http://goo.gl/nHCyJZ is in the public domain →Next
Eroded coastal road at Whatarangi Bluff, Palliser Bay.↑
14. 17← Previous"Eroded Road at Whatarangi Bluff, Palliser Bay-2" by Karora from http://goo.gl/nbGzeX is in the public domain →Next
Eroded coastal road from the other direction, Whatarangi Bluff, Palliser Bay.↑
15. 18← Previous"wedge" by Craig Berry from http://goo.gl/J3t3Qh is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
A 20+ foot wave at Newport Beach, California, USA.↑
16. 19← Previous"Hurricane Dora" by Ana Rodríguez Carrington from http://goo.gl/CukfLt is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Waves after a tropical storm↑
17. 20← Previous"HMNZS WELLINGTON encounters rough seas in Ross Sea" by New Zealand Defence Force from http://goo.gl/OiHXew is licensed under
CC BY 2.0 →Next
HMNZS WELLINGTON encounters rough seas in the Ross Sea↑
18. 21← Previous"Water level moitoring in Chesapeake City" by NOAA's National Ocean Service from http://goo.gl/FoyimI is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Chesapeake City Tide Station, an active water level gauge, Maryland, USA↑
19. 22← Previous"4 Inches of rain in 6 hours" by Tony Alter http://goo.gl/taH0hw is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Rain gauge↑
20. 23← Previous"Tide gauge" by Alex Healing from http://goo.gl/mkKguV is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Tide gauge↑
21. 24← Previous"cgs00995" by NOAA Photo Library from http://goo.gl/FkKrs2 is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Credit: Personnel of NOAA Ship THOMAS
JEFFERSON; Collection of Gretchen Imahori, NOAA/NOS/OCS.NOAA Photo Library →Next
Checking the equipment used to monitor water level↑
22. 25← Previous"Housing on Fakaofo atoll, Tokelau, 2007. Tokelau’s low-lying atolls are susceptible to rising sea levels. Photo: New Zealand Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade" by New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade from http://goo.gl/C5XFxW is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Houses on Tokelau that could be affected by rising sea levels↑
23. 26← Previous"Aerial view of Tuvalu’s capital, Funafuti, 2011. Photo: Lily-Anne Homasi / DFAT" by Lily-Anne Homasi / Australian Government
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from http://goo.gl/sz5sL4 is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Aerial view of Tuvalu’s capital, Funafuti. Tuvalu is a country of low lying atolls, making it vulnerable to rising sea levels.↑
24. 27← Previous"Kiribati 2009. Photo: Jodie Gatfield, AusAID" by Jodie Gatfield, AusAID from http://goo.gl/r53YNa is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Kiribati.↑
25. 28← Previous →Next
This visualization shows the extent of Arctic sea ice on August 26, 2012, the day the sea ice dipped to its smallest extent ever recorded in more
than three decades of satellite measurements. The line on the image shows the average minimum extent from the period covering 1979-2010.
Every summer the Arctic ice cap melts down to what scientists call its “minimum” before colder weather builds the ice cover back up.
↑
"Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks To New Low In Satellite Era" by Scientific Visualization Studio, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from http:
//goo.gl/HfrHlB is licensed under CC BY 2.0
26. 29← Previous →Next
This little church, thought to date from the 1300s, is in danger of falling into the sea off the coast of north-west Denmark.↑
"Coastal erosion - Maarup" by John Nuttall from http://goo.gl/QmC9bu is licensed under CC BY 2.0
27. 30← Previous"London Arch, Victoria, Australia" by Kelly Hunter from https://www.flickr.com/photos/inspirekelly/5678063966/ is licensed under CC BY
2.0 →Next
The London Arch, Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia, used to be called the London Bridge. A section of it collapsed due to erosion in 1990 and
left two tourists stranded on the new island it formed. They were rescued by helicopter.
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28. 31← Previous"Tuvalu - Funafuti - Beach #3" by Stefan Lins from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrlins/304273860/ is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
A beach and wharf on Funafuti Atoll in Tuvalu↑
29. 32← Previous"Brisbane Floods - Gailes Queensland" by Martin Howard from https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinhoward/5349077346 is licensed
under CC BY 2.0 →Next
A submerged train line and motorway in Gailes, Brisbane↑
30. 33← Previous"Rockhampton in flood" by Tatiana Gerus from https://www.flickr.com/photos/tgerus/5305820211 is licensed under CC BY 2.0 →Next
Floods at Rockhampton, Australia, 2010, taken from a plane↑