POSTGLACIAL SEA LEVEL HISTORY: NORTH AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN CONSTRAINTS ON THE IMPACT DUE TO GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC WARMING

Global warming of the lower atmosphere due to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases is causing global sea level to rise at a rate of approximately 3.2 mm/yr according to recent analyses of data from the Topex/Poseidon altimeter satellite. Although the steric effect of the thermal expansion of the oceans is contributing significantly to this signal, at a globally averaged rate of ~0.5 mm/yr, the net signal cannot be understood except by the requirement that significant mass is being added to the ocean basins by the contemporary melting of land ice. In order to infer the sources of such land ice melting (small ice-sheets and glaciers, Greenland, Antarctica) a detailed understanding of the contamination of both satellite and tide gauge records due to the continuing influence of the last deglaciation event of the Late Pleistocene is required. This paper will discuss the inference of the magnitude of the climate related component of the signal derived through application of the theory of postglacial sea level change