Posted on 07/10/2015 10:43:09 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Rising sea levels have been mostly measured in inches in the past decades, but scientists said they could increase more than 20 feet in the future as global warming continues to melt ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica.
The dire projections are based on a look back at the climate record, with scientists finding that increases of 20 feet have happened at least twice over the past 3 million years when temperatures were very similar to what they are today.
Peter Clark, an Oregon State paleoclimatologist and another co-author of the study, said that because current carbon dioxide levels are as high as they were 3 million years ago, "we are already committed to a certain amount of sea level rise."
"The ominous aspect to this is that CO2 levels are continuing to rise, so we are entering uncharted territory," Clark said. "What is not as certain is the time frame, which is less well-constrained. We could be talking many centuries to a few millennia to see the full impact of melting ice sheets."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Was Org’s last name Gore by chance...?
Well at least they have learned something.
Don’t get nailed down to a date (year or decade).
Open predictions that can’t be debunked by history catching up with you are much more useful.
But the downside is that the predictions are not nearly as scary which is of course what they are trying to be.
Wasn’t the election of obama in ‘08 supposed to prevent that from happening?
I can see the Straight of Juan de Fuca from my house. The Straight is about 5 miles from my house. I live at about 1000’ altitude.
I say let it rip!! My view is already incredible, but a 20’ rise would only improve the view.......and it might bring the fish in closer, so I am not spending as much for boat gas. ;>)
“That’s a lot of water!”
That’s a lot of something. I don’t think it’s water.
Yes it could, subject to the sun’s activity or lack thereof. If all of us were dead tomorrow it would not affect the rise and fall of continents and oceans over years to come by a single millimeter.
Climate change could lead to ___________.
Depending on how this works out, I could end up beach front!
No, but his wife was Dot Org...
GLOOM DESPAIR AND AGONY ON ME!!!!! OOOOOOO!!!
Peter Clark conveniently omitted the fact that carbon dioxide levels go up in response to increasing global temperatures.
Is he one of those "scientists" being paid to find fault with mankind?
Time to buy that Oklahoma beach property?
And that a-hole al gore bought a beach front home.
“Peter Clark, an Oregon State paleoclimatologist and another co-author of the study, said that because current carbon dioxide levels are as high as they were 3 million years ago...”
So exactly what did ancient humans do 3 million years ago to cause that much CO2, hmm? But wait! Were there even any humans that long ago?
Yes, but the sand will have turned to glass...
That would be a blessing. It would eliminate our two left coasts.
If you're doing this in a "rocks glass" the level stays the same. That's true because the glass is a "container" that defines a specific volume. The earth does not meet the definition of a container as it does not define a specific volume, as the ice melts the resultant additional water just spreads out over a larger and larger area.
This whole "sea-level" thing is really confusing as it largely depends on where you are measuring the surface. The earth is rotating on it's axis causing the water surface to "bulge" outward along the equator because of centrifugal force. So the sea-level is deeper at the equator than it is at the poles. If it weren't for rotation the water's surface would still be acted on by gravity. The force of gravity, if measured at many locations, is a vector force pointing at the Earth's center of mass. Most people would expect that to be "straight down". However, Earth's mass is not evenly distributed. this effect is caused by large/dense masses of asteroid belt material which struck Earth and remain lodged in the crust. Their influence on gravity is to create an anomaly where "straight down" is not at right angles to the surface. The anomalies create "bumps" in the gravity field and therefore dimples in the sea-level. Additionally, shifts in the crust at the bottom of the oceans (landslides, earth quakes, and lateral shifts) will also introduces dynamic changes in measured depth.
To measure "sea-level" requires that all these forces be accounted for which isn't as easy as it seems because the Earth also wobbles as it rotates, causing all of the above noted forces to dance around.
I almost forgot the most significant force acting on our oceans; the Moon interacts with the ocean water to create the tides which can vary by feet! The Moon's orbit is also changing with time and so introduces more variability in determining "sea-level".
Regards,
GtG
PS Measuring "sea-level" is not quite as easy as marching down to the shore with a ruler.
PPS As to "gravity anomalies", there is a rather large one off the Florida coast which lay under the orbital insertion path of the Apollo Moon shots. It required some coordinate changes to keep everything on track. (Bermuda Triangle? You Bet! Not Kidding!)
Just having a fun time with this. So actually you’re saying the earth is not a container? Doesn’t gravity make it such?
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