<p>SLR is thought to be caused by temperature rise, which is caused by CO2 rise and other factors. Temperature has been rising since before 1850. It could be another Question: "Why temperature does not correspond with CO2 levels since 1850".</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/evpJD.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/evpJD.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>
  The reconstructions used, in order from oldest to most recent publication are:<br>
  (dark blue 1000-1991): The Holocene.<br>
  (blue 1000-1980): Geophysical Research Letters.<br>
  (light blue 1000-1965): Ambio. Modified as published in Science.<br>
  (lightest blue 1402-1960): J. Geophys. Res..<br>
  (light green 831-1992): Science.<br>
  (yellow 200-1980): Geophysical Research Letters. doi:10.1029/2003GL017814.<br>
  (orange 200-1995): Reviews of Geophysics. doi:10.1029/2003RG000143<br>
  (red-orange 1500-1980): Geophys. Res Lett.. doi:10.1029/2004GL019781<br>
  (red 1-1979): Nature. doi:10.1038/nature03265<br>
  (dark red 1600-1990): Science. doi:10.1126/science.1107046<br>
  (black 1856-2004): Instrumental data was jointly compiled by the Climatic Research Unit and the UK Meteorological Office Hadley Centre.<br>
  <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Robert A. Rohde,  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported</a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-06T09:16:28.310Z
is it possible for you to include more details about what happened from 1800-1850 like the solar minimum and the massive eruption of tambora volcano.this is to make your answer more complete.
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-06T17:03:27.203Z
@trondhansen I found this graph of [forcings since 1750](https://skepticalscience.com/CO2-is-not-the-only-driver-of-climate-intermediate.htm#117094) from [IPCC](https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf) (p.699), but I can't find one showing the cumulative effect on temperature.
Keith McClary
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-06T18:03:56.763Z
i found this https://www.britannica.com/science/Little-Ice-Age/media/1/344106/158081 if you follow the links you can find  here you will be able to improve and expand your answer.
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-06T05:14:24.423Z
2019-06-30T03:46:44.177Z
2019-06-30T03:46:44.177Z
Keith McClary
<p>This question is based on the following graph from a <a href="https://curryja.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/special-report-sea-level-rise3.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2018 report by J. Curry</a>.</p>

<p><em>(I haven't found any peer-review of the report itself so I can't vouch for the validity of its claims, but that's not the heart of the question)</em></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/bxRox.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bxRox.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>If I understand correctly, an idea developed by the report is that the observed rate of sea level rise during the 1850-1950 period can hardly be explained due to CO2 emissions, as those are barely significant prior to 1950.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WG1AR5_Chapter13_FINAL.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AR5 IPCC report on sea level change</a> doesn't address this directly.</p>

<p><strong>What is the current consensus (if any) on the causes of the observed rate of sea level rise between 1850 and 1950 ?</strong></p>

<p>(To be clear, I don't intend to question the <em>predicted</em> sea level rise at all. This question is unrelated to the IPCC projections.)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-04T04:28:44.490Z
this was the end of the little ice age so it is not totally unexpected for the sea level to go up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-04T17:13:30.250Z
The connection between CO2 emissions and sea level rise is not an observation, it;s a prediction.  That is, people did not notice the sea level rising, and look around for a cause.  Instead, they noticed an increase in CO2 levels from fossil fuel burning (and predicted future increases), and used fairly basic physics to deduce the fact that it would cause warming and eventual sea level rise.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-05T05:04:03.513Z
@jamesqf I understand that point, that's why I'm *not* asking why this "unexplained" warming _discredits_ future ocean level rise (that would not make sense), simply whether there is a scientific consensus on its causes, unrelated to projected future ocean level rise. :)
Hippalectryon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-06T19:44:31.697Z
Where is the rise in sea level shown on the graph? Is it a global change, or at one particular measurement location?
Semidiurnal Simon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-06T19:45:28.797Z
@trondhansen wasn't the "little ice age" a regional, rather than global, phenomenon? Or am I misremembering?
Semidiurnal Simon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-07T03:15:50.497Z
@SemidiurnalSimon the little ice age might have been regional but the eruption of tambora and the solar minimum was world wide so it is not unlikely this was the reason for a sudden(over a few years)drop in sea level,and when the sun returned to"normal"and the level of ash/aerosols from tambora was removed the sea level started to go up.(this is my understanding of it and i might very well be wrong)
trond hansen
<climate-change><oceanography><sea-level>
Understood cause of sea level rise between 1850 and 1950
Hippalectryon
# Understood cause of sea level rise between 1850 and 1950

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-04)

This question is based on the following graph from a [2018 report by J. Curry](https://curryja.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/special-report-sea-level-rise3.pdf).

*(I haven't found any peer-review of the report itself so I can't vouch for the validity of its claims, but that's not the heart of the question)*

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/bxRox.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/bxRox.png)

If I understand correctly, an idea developed by the report is that the observed rate of sea level rise during the 1850-1950 period can hardly be explained due to CO2 emissions, as those are barely significant prior to 1950.

The [AR5 IPCC report on sea level change](https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WG1AR5_Chapter13_FINAL.pdf) doesn't address this directly.

**What is the current consensus (if any) on the causes of the observed rate of sea level rise between 1850 and 1950 ?**

(To be clear, I don't intend to question the *predicted* sea level rise at all. This question is unrelated to the IPCC projections.)

**Tags:** climate-change, oceanography, sea-level

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: this was the end of the little ice age so it is not totally unexpected for the sea level to go up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age  
> **username_2**: The connection between CO2 emissions and sea level rise is not an observation, it;s a prediction.  That is, people did not notice the sea level rising, and look around for a cause.  Instead, they noticed an increase in CO2 levels from fossil fuel burning (and predicted future increases), and used fairly basic physics to deduce the fact that it would cause warming and eventual sea level rise.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 I understand that point, that's why I'm *not* asking why this "unexplained" warming _discredits_ future ocean level rise (that would not make sense), simply whether there is a scientific consensus on its causes, unrelated to projected future ocean level rise. :)  
> **username_3**: Where is the rise in sea level shown on the graph? Is it a global change, or at one particular measurement location?  
> **username_3**: @username_1 wasn't the "little ice age" a regional, rather than global, phenomenon? Or am I misremembering?  
> **username_1**: @username_3 the little ice age might have been regional but the eruption of tambora and the solar minimum was world wide so it is not unlikely this was the reason for a sudden(over a few years)drop in sea level,and when the sun returned to"normal"and the level of ash/aerosols from tambora was removed the sea level started to go up.(this is my understanding of it and i might very well be wrong)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-06-06. Score: 2

SLR is thought to be caused by temperature rise, which is caused by CO2 rise and other factors. Temperature has been rising since before 1850. It could be another Question: "Why temperature does not correspond with CO2 levels since 1850".

> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/evpJD.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/evpJD.png)  
> The reconstructions used, in order from oldest to most recent publication are:  
> (dark blue 1000-1991): The Holocene.  
> (blue 1000-1980): Geophysical Research Letters.  
> (light blue 1000-1965): Ambio. Modified as published in Science.  
> (lightest blue 1402-1960): J. Geophys. Res..  
> (light green 831-1992): Science.  
> (yellow 200-1980): Geophysical Research Letters. doi:10.1029/2003GL017814.  
> (orange 200-1995): Reviews of Geophysics. doi:10.1029/2003RG000143  
> (red-orange 1500-1980): Geophys. Res Lett.. doi:10.1029/2004GL019781  
> (red 1-1979): Nature. doi:10.1038/nature03265  
> (dark red 1600-1990): Science. doi:10.1126/science.1107046  
> (black 1856-2004): Instrumental data was jointly compiled by the Climatic Research Unit and the UK Meteorological Office Hadley Centre.  
> [Robert A. Rohde, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png)

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: is it possible for you to include more details about what happened from 1800-1850 like the solar minimum and the massive eruption of tambora volcano.this is to make your answer more complete.  
> **username_4**: @username_1 I found this graph of [forcings since 1750](https://skepticalscience.com/CO2-is-not-the-only-driver-of-climate-intermediate.htm#117094) from [IPCC](https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf) (p.699), but I can't find one showing the cumulative effect on temperature.  
> **username_1**: i found this https://www.britannica.com/science/Little-Ice-Age/media/1/344106/158081 if you follow the links you can find  here you will be able to improve and expand your answer.  

---

