Abstract
Summary A rise in sea-level at the rate of 1 cm per century following a reduction in the extent of ice in glaciated regions results in an increase of the moment of inertia of the Earth about its axis of rotation sufficient to lengthen the day by 10-4 second per century provided there is no isostatic compensation. The consequent apparent secular acceleration of the Moon is 2 seconds of arc per century per century. The changes however are negligible if immediate and complete isostatic compensation occurs. A tentative discussion of climatic and glaciological evidence indicates that fluctuations of sea-level do occur and that their effect on the Moon's apparent acceleration may be appreciable. This re-opens the question of the cause of the Moon's apparent acceleration which is usually attributed to the deceleration of the Earth by tidal friction. The change in tidal friction due to a rise in sea-level is very small and has not been sufficient to produce the observed change in the Moon's acceleration.
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