Caspian Sea of around 149,200 square miles (386,400 square km)— bigger than the region of Japan—and its surface lies somewhere in the range of 90 feet (27 meters) below sea level. The sea bed in the southern part reaches as low as 1,023 m (3,356 ft) below sea level, which is the second lowest natural depression on earth after Lake Baikal (−1,180 m, −3,871 ft). The ancient inhabitants of its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness and large size. The sea has a surface area of 371,000 km (143,200 sq mi) (not including the detached
Sea level rise of the climate system. Of course, when the ocean gains heat the water expands and this represents a component of global sea-level rise. The thermal expansion of water increases with temperature and pressure of the water. Hence, cold Arctic Ocean water will expand less for a given increase in temperature compared to warm tropical water. Because different climate models have slightly different patterns of ocean heating, they do not agree fully on the predictions for the contribution of ocean heating on sea level rise. The large volume of ice on the Antarctic continent stores around 70% of the world's fresh