EGU21-1951
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1951
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Global Mean Sea-level Changes in the Last Two Millennia

Nidheesh Gangadharan1, Hugues Goosse1, David Parkes1, and Heiko Goelzer2
Nidheesh Gangadharan et al.
  • 1Université catholique de Louvain, Earth and Life Institute, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
  • 2NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway

Instrumental records show that global mean sea level (GMSL) rose by approximately 15 cm in the 20th Century, with estimates of contributing factors suggesting the major components are ocean thermal expansion and melting of continental ice sheets and glaciers. However, little is known about the individual contributions to GMSL changes over the preindustrial common era (PCE) and the potential differences in the mechanisms controlling those changes between different time periods. Here, we describe the GMSL changes in the PCE by comparing proxy-based reconstructions with estimates derived from model experiments. The ocean thermal expansion is estimated on the basis of Coupled (Paleoclimate) Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP/PMIP) experiments. The contributions of ice sheets and glaciers are based on simulations with an ice-sheet model (IMAU-ICE) and a global glacier model (The Open Global Glacier Model), respectively. We also describe the thermal expansion response in the different ocean basins over the last millennium. The findings provide new insights on the current anthropogenic warming and sea-level rise in a wider context.

How to cite: Gangadharan, N., Goosse, H., Parkes, D., and Goelzer, H.: Global Mean Sea-level Changes in the Last Two Millennia, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-1951, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1951, 2021.

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