BRAINCAKERisk of Flooding
Global warming increases the risk of flooding in two ways: rising sea levels and heavier rainfall.
Sea level rise is caused by:
• thermal expansion: water expands as it warms, so a warmer ocean takes up more volume;
• melting land ice: water from glaciers and the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica flows into the sea.
Melting sea ice does not raise sea level directly, because floating ice already displaces its own weight of water.
Global mean sea level has risen by about 20 cm since 1900, and the rate is increasing (now almost 4 mm per year). Models predict a further rise of about 0.3 to 1 m by 2100, depending on emissions.
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All 29 lessons in Human Influence on Ecosystems · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics