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The secret to rising sea levels

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Of the many environmental impacts imposed by climate change, rising sea levels are often discussed. The cause of this may not be as obvious as it seems. While a portion of the increase comes from the likes of melting glaciers, another more surprising phenomenon helps to explain the increase in water volume: Thermal Expansion. Check out AsapSCIENCE's video explaining this natural phenomenon.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

1) Here are two case studies about Tuvalu, a remote island that is extremely susceptible to the impact of thermal expansion:http://www.ifrc.org/Global/Case%20studies/Disasters/cs-tuvalu-en.pdfhttp://www.teatime-mag.com/magazines/wp-content/themes/tt/print/teatime14/print.pdf2) Here is a comprehensive article about the impact of thermal expansion from NASA:http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OceanCooling/page5.php3) Here are a series of visuals to help your comprehend how matter can expand and compress:http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/science/chemical_material_behaviour/behaviour_of_matter/revise2.shtml4) Here is an advanced scientific paper entitled "Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2632717/

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