Japan's Sea Level Highest in 100 Years

According to research by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the sea level around Japan has been rising since the mid-1980s, and the mean sea level in 2003 was the highest in 100 years.

Meanwhile, although the average seawater temperatures from the surface to 700 meters in depth were decreasing in most coastal waters of Japan from 1970 to 1985, they have been rising since 1985. Research shows an annual rise of 0.01 to 0.06 degrees Celsius from the Nansei Shoto (the Southwest Islands) to the Japan Sea, and an annual rise of over 0.1 degrees Celsius from off the coast of the Tokai region to off the eastern coast of the Kanto region. Because seawater temperature is closely related to seawater density, it is clear that sea level changes along Japanese coasts in the last 30 years are the results of the changes in the sea temperatures around Japan.

Aiming to more accurately predict long-term sea level changes caused by global warming, JMA started to install high-precision sea-level indicators at 13 tide monitoring stations nationwide in 2004.

JMA will also examine the influence of changes in ground levels using global positioning system (GPS) monitoring equipment installed with the help of the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan, and run ocean simulations using the observational data gathered by marine meteorological observation ships and the computed results of statistical sea models. JMA plans to conduct further quantitative research on the variables affecting sea-level rise and to release the results to the public.




Posted: 2004/08/09 11:51:34 AM
Japanese version