Preview

Sea Level Persuasive Speech

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
691 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Sea Level Persuasive Speech
Imagine if one day the beach you went to last summer disappeared, or if the house you live in today became a part of the ocean. Does it seem to you like something almost impossible? It might. Sea levels rise because of global warming, for two reasons: first, hot water expands, and second, it causes glaciers to melt, and water from these glaciers goes straight into the ocean. This problem might seem like a tiny one compared to others, but it isn’t. Today I want to inform you about why sea level rise is a bigger concern than what it seems to be, especially in the upcoming years, and why we should care about it.

Did you know that sea levels had been slightly decreasing up until the Industrial Revolution, according to The Christian Science Monitor?
…show more content…
According to The Washington Post, a three-foot rise in sea level, which is expectable to happen by 2100 if we do not take action against sea level rise now, nearly 1.9 million U.S. homes could be underwater, displacing over 4.2 million Americans, and $882 billion worth of homes would go down the ocean. It would cost about fourteen trillion dollars to relocate all of these people. Even worse, a six-foot rise, while only double that of a three-foot rise, would displace about thirteen million Americans, over triple the amount. This means that displacement of people rises exponentially in proportion to sea levels. These numbers don’t even account for people living in other countries that could be seriously affected by sea level rise. If we think even further into the future, many or all coastal cities, including Vancouver, could be flooded and people would have to move, clumping the world’s population into a much smaller area, and perhaps a lot of money spent by governments to help the move.

There are also other consequences of sea level rise, one being that it increases the chance of storms happening. It also threatens fresh water supplies, which could be one of the world’s biggest problems in the future and it hurts vital economic

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    It is just like a cup of soda with ice. Over time the ice melts into the soda which make the soda watered down. The same rules apply; the ice caps are the ice and the ocean is the soda. The ice caps break off from the mainland, then drop into the ocean and melt, adding more water. Sea levels rise about .13 inches a year according to the National Geographic website. That does not sound to alarming does it? Well over the past century the ocean has rose 4 to 8 feet. Also the CBS Miami website says with the way sea levels are rising not just Miami, but all of south florida will be under water by 2025. With air pollution contributing to rising sea levels everybody in south Florida is in…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However you also have to consider the socioeconomic impacts of rising sea levels caused by global warming. Increased erosion for example, leads to the loss of land and settlements. This is especially the case in…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Low-Lying Coastal Regions

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As the Global climate change takes affect one of the many concerns planners worry about is the effects it will have on low-lying coastal regions. Sea level rising places many populations at risk and local and federal decision makers now need to discover new policies aimed at addressing the impending affects the rising sea level will have on coastal areas. Current local development policies are based on SA; however, policies need to account for the development in areas where impending sea level rise is being observed. Global warming has increased the sea level, because of carbon emissions heating up the artic, thus, in turn melting the ice caps around the world. (Surging Sea Levels) The effect is that coastal areas are losing their homes to the rising tides. The projections sea level rise in Long Island for example range from a foot to over six feet. Thus, the result is a coast that outraces the national averages and increases the likelihood for more super storms, disrupting state economies and displacing communities and homes faster than policies and zones can…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There has been a 25 centimeter increase in sea levels in New York, and “this rate is projected to accelerate dramatically” ( Lynas 168). These are only a few of the things that can…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The sea levels rising could destroy ecosystems by removing or increasing certain species in a certain area of the ocean. Especially coastal areas. “Rising water levels will have serious impacts on marine ecosystems. The amount of light reaching offshore plants and algae dependent on photosynthesis could be reduced, while coastal habitats are already being flooded”(Climate change impacts on the marine environment, pg 3, par 3). The flooding of these habitats is dangerous because it disrupts the flow of a lot of organisms that keep the ecosystems in balance. “Wetlands normally grow vertically fast enough to keep up with sea level rise, but recently the sea has been rising too fast for wetlands to keep their blades above water. Coral reefs and sea grass meadows are also in danger of “drowning” since they can only photosynthesize in relatively shallow water” (Fujita, pg 2, par 4). With the sea levels rising so fast, it could also begin to effect more than just…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This is important to consider because “in the 20th century, the world’s average surface temperature rose by approximately 1 degree Fahrenheit, the fastest rate in any period over the last 1,000 years” (Source A). Although this one degree change may not seem drastic, over the coming years it can dramatically increase the temperature of the earth if the human population does not intervene. This is why regulating the changes in surface temperature is so important to global warming policies. In addition to this, the graph is Source B clearly depicts that the measured ocean temperatures over approximately 150 years, from 1880-2004, have increased rapidly, especially since the mid-1900’s (Source B). This supplements the data from Source A, and clearly interlinks changes in surface temperature to global warming. Lastly, it was show that the “best estimates suggest an average temperature increase of 1.4-5.8 [degrees Celsius and] a sea-level rise in the order of a metre…” (Source E). No matter what the increase is, the fact that the surface temperature on the Earth is increasing is a wakeup call to the human race on how their daily lives are contributing to global warming. Changes in surface temperature are important to consider when making policies that affect global…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The most well-known effect of global warming is that the rise in temperature could cause ice caps, glaciers and sea ice to melt. Since the 1950’s arctic sea ice has reduced by 10-15%, and the Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland retreated by 10km between 1997 and 2007, both of which are evidence that the recent increases in temperature are causing ice to melt. This melting of ice, along with thermal expansion of water, caused by increased temperatures will lead to rise in sea levels; average global sea levels could rise almost 1m between 1990 and 2100. A rise in sea levels could have devastating social impacts on low lying coastal areas; a 1m rise in sea levels could flood over…

    • 1687 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ap Human Geogrpahy

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Therefore we can say that if we don’t start solving this problem with a quick and an effective solution, we are going to face a major catastrophe. Because of global warming temperatures are rising and the most striking evidence of global warming is a data that shoes the rapid and massive increase of temperatures in the past century. The temperatures on Earth started to rise more and more when metal industries started to develop and expand a lot, and also when many big forests were burned and destroyed. The ten warmest years that happened on planet Earth, occurred during 1997-2008, according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. With the help of the modern technology and science, many world known scientists from all over the world were able to calculate that, the rising temperatures observed from 1978 have nothing to do with the rising temperature of the sun at that time. They were able to see that the energy reaching the Earth from the Sun is not causing the rise in the temperatures and that Earth’s warming was not due to changes in the Sun. Another problem that is caused by Global Warming is the rising sea levels. The sea level has increased over 8 to 9 inches, and the increasing rate is not stopping. Authors of the IPCC reported…

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    work cited

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Global warming puts coral reefs in danger as warmer water increases the possibility of coral diseases and Global warming raises sea levels, and that could threaten cities in a number of states. Sea levels have risen about seven inches in the last 100 years, which is more than in the previous 2,000 years combined, according to Do Something, a nonprofit aimed at empowering young people. And they could rise another 19 inches by 2050. That means cities like New Orleans and Miami could start to look like Venice. Rising water levels can also put fragile coral reefs in danger. Coral relies on sunlight, which could become scarce as water levels rise. the rising sea levels makes it more difficult for coral to receive adequate sunlight.…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sea Level Rise San Francisco

    • 4365 Words
    • 18 Pages

    THE IMPACTS OF SEA LEVEL RISE ON THE CALIFORNIA COAST. California Climate Change Center, 2009…

    • 4365 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Northwest coastal zone, the effects of sea level rise, coastal erosion, floods, threats to buildings and habitats, and increasing ocean acidity present a major threat to the Northwest. Coastal areas, tidal areas, and beaches will decline in quality because of sea level rise, particularly where habitats can’t move inland because of terrain setbacks or barriers from human constructions. Species such as shorebirds and forage fish will be at harm and coastal communities would be at a greater risk from these coastal storms. These estimates lie between 2.6 and 6.6 ft in sea level by the year 2100.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unless you live under a rock, you will have noticed what’s happening around the human race due to global warming and climate modification. It is not only affecting us humans, it is also affecting our vegetation, our animals, and our oceans. I recently watched a video by National Geographic about the precious coral reefs in the Florida Keys and it talked about how the coral reefs cannot keep up with the rising sea level, so eventually they will all just die (“Fighting to Save Coral in the Florida Keys”). Additionally this will lead to habitat loss and then species dying off. If this scenario belonged to one area it would be tragic but climate change is disrupting habitats and killing off dependent mintage humanity worldwide.…

    • 1989 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is a great deal of controversy among people on the subjects of climate change, global warming and sea level rise. There is also great confusion caused when scientists ineffectively communicate complicated information to the general public, thus the information in misunderstood and often rejected. This confusion commonly prohibits the measures that need to be taken in order to adapt to the elements like sea level rise. In simple terms Climate change, as described by The United States Panel on Climate Change, is the “climate is undergoing dramatic changes as the direct result of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity” these green house gasses act like a ceiling for our environment and trap the heat that would otherwise be released…

    • 165 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The sea level has been rising globally for the past 10,000 years before anthropologic influence, but due to large amounts of CO2 release the sea level is now rising rapidly. The warming of global temperatures over the past century that continues to grow with time causes this rise in sea level. Because of this growing global temperature, the ice caps are melting rapidly and will continue to melt at a faster rate. “…Even if we could stabilize concentrations of GHGs, we are already committed to significant warming and sea level rise no matter what scenario we follow (Gerald A. Meehl et al).” At this point, it would be impossible to avoid increased sea levels due to this melting. This melting means that many areas of low elevation will experience major flooding. Sea levels could rise by several meters in the next 100 years, leading to major land loss. Flooding can also lead to declines or shifts to local fisheries, leading to possible protein shortages in poorer populations, leading to famine. This could put many lives in jeopardy and could alter many coastal ecosystems, leading to loss of coastal infrastructure, coastal erosion, loss of human life, and the extinction of several species unable to adapt or move to another adequate…

    • 2140 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Global Warming Artifact

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Thousands of coastal cities and even whole islands are at risk of being claimed by the ocean due to sea levels worldwide rising at a rate of 0.14 inches per year since the early 1990s (Sea). This increase in sea levels is generated by global warming. Global warming, also known as climate change, is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and oceans, that could have a permanent and devastating effect on the world (Global). It has existed ever since the beginning of the Industrial revolution back in the 1880s due to fossil-fueled mechanisms (Ocean). Many indicators of climate change include: a rise in sea levels, polar ice caps and glaciers melting, ocean acidification and an…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays