Changes to the hydrosphere

• The hydrosphere includes all water on the earth's surface, for example lakes and seas, occasionally including clouds.
• The biosphere is the regions of the surface and atmosphere on Earth that are occupied by living organisms.
• The atmosphere is the envelope of gases surrounding Earth.
• Oceans carry most of the salty water whilst the majority of lakes and rivers carry fresh water.
• Sea level matters due to the fact that almost 40% of the populations in the US live in high population-density coastal areas.
• Sea level plays a large role in flooding, shoreline erosion and hazards from storms.
• Rising sea levels threaten necessary infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.
• Higher sea levels means there is higher 'background' water levels which leads to more dearly and destructive storm surges- such as in Hurricane Katrina.
• Sea level rises occurs when glaciers and ice sheets are melting and adding water to the oceans.
• Another reason leading to sea level rise is the fact that the volume of the ocean expands as its temperature increases.
• Sea level rise has doubled from 1.7mm/year throughout most of the twentieth century to 3.4mm/year since 1993.