Risk of rising sea level to population and land area

Low‐elevation land areas and their populations are at risk globally from rising sea level. Global sea level has risen by about 2 millimeters per year over the past century. About half of this rise may be attributed to thermal expansion of the ocean and the melting of temperate‐latitude glaciers [ Dyurgerov and Meier , 1997]. The remainder of the rise is believed to come from a net loss of mass from the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, although the exact contribution is unknown.