What Causes Sea Level Rise?

Sea level rise happens when oceans get bigger, just like when your bathtub gets fuller after you turn on more water.

Imagine the Earth is a big melting ice cream cone, the ice is glaciers and ice sheets in places like Antarctica and Greenland. When it gets warmer, that ice melts, turning into water that flows into the ocean, making the sea level go up.

Think of the seas as big sponges. When you press on them, which happens when the Earth's surface warms and expands, they absorb more water, just like how your sponge gets bigger when it’s wet. This is called thermal expansion, and it also makes sea levels rise.

There are two main ways the ocean gets more water:

1. Melting ice from glaciers and ice sheets.
2. Thermal expansion, where warm water takes up more space.

It’s like when you put a glass of ice cubes in a full glass of soda, the soda spills over because the ice melts and takes up more room. The ocean is doing something similar, but on a much bigger scale!