There are many reasons why sea levels rise. Some would point to human as the main influence, while others would simply say it’s a natural phenomenon. As a matter of fact, there are many things that can cause the sea levels to rise. The most common influences known to men are the melting of ice on land, water from reserves of oxygen and hydrogen in the earth’s crust, water from deep space, and when land collapse due to thermal expansion. One thing is for certain, the earth undergoes a lot of changes and the sea is not in any way an exemption.
As the earth continues to experience change every now and then, the sea levels will continue to rise and fall. Centuries ago, the sea level was far lower compared to what it is at present. 12,500 years ago, the earth was in the stage of deep freeze. In a 100,000 year cycle, these freezes pulse with minor swings occurring every time. The sea level during this era was generally low, lower by more than 100 meters, than the norm today. The end of the last freeze resulted to continents joining together with some exemptions like that of Iceland and Australia and some plethora of islands in the Pacific. But after the meltdown, coastlines were submerged and for about 6,000 years ago up until now, the sea levels have been constant.
However, due to the greenhouse effect, the seal levels have been on the rise again; this time the blame goes to human more than to natural phenomenon. Greenhouse gasses are injected by human activity triggering changes in the sea levels. How does this affect the levels of the sea? The layer of gas protecting the earth from the harmful rays of the sun has been greatly affected by the increase of fossil burning. More sun rays are being kept inside the atmosphere and thus the earth becomes warmer. Due to the rise of temperature, large masses of ice in the North and South Pole will start to melt resulting to the rise of the sea levels.
But aside from the greenhouse effect, the fact that not all water is in the ocean can also influence the rise of the sea levels. When volcanoes erupt, water from below the surface of the earth is ejected in the form of heated steams and flows to the oceans. This event also contributes to the rise of the sea levels, though not that dramatic. Massive collapses of land can also be a reason for the rise of the sea levels. Tsunami events that swept the world were said to be a result of these events.
As aforementioned, the earth experiences change every now and then. Sea levels falling and rising is very much a natural phenomenon. Sometimes, it falls in a different region while at the same time rises in another. Some of the earth’s regions are below sea level but the surprising thing is, you cannot find any water anywhere. The Mediterranean Sea and the Black sea were once said to be dry lands until the sea levels rose and changed everything. The bottom line here is, change is something that is going on all the time. Whether the sea levels rose or fell due to human or natural influences, they are just part of what we call change.
