Rising sea levels recorded in Indian Ocean

BOULDER, Colo., July 14 (UPI) -- Risings sea levels in parts of the Indian Ocean appear to be at least partially the result of human-caused increases in greenhouse gases, researchers say.

A University of Colorado at Boulder study suggests anthropogenic climate warming is amplifying regional sea rise changes and threatening inhabitants of some coastal areas and islands, a Colorado University release said Wednesday.

The sea level increase, which could worsen monsoon flooding in Bangladesh and India, might have far-reaching impacts on both future regional and global climate, the study said.

The Indian Ocean is the world's third largest ocean and contains about 20 percent of the water on Earth's surface.

An area of tropical ocean reaching from the east coast of Africa west into the Pacific has heated by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past 50 years, primarily caused by human-generated increases of greenhouse gases, CU-Boulder Associate Professor Weiqing Han said.

If future warming effects "dominate natural variability," Han said, "mid-ocean islands such as the Mascarenhas Archipelago, coasts of Indonesia, Sumatra and the north Indian Ocean may experience significantly more sea level rise than the global average."

The study was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.