Access

Commentary

Nature Geoscience 2, 452–454 (1 July 2009) | doi:10.1038/ngeo567

Land waters and sea level

Dennis P. Lettenmaier & P. C. D. Milly

Understanding the causes of contemporary sea-level rise is a prerequisite for projecting future changes in sea level. The main contributions to the current rise in global mean sea level of about 2 to 3 mm yr|[minus]|1 are thought to come from the loss of land-based ice masses such as ice sheets, ice caps and mountain glaciers, and from the thermal expansion of the oceans.