Are The Sea Levels Rising?

California Sea Levels Flickr/Qfamily

Sea Level Rising Rapidly on Both Coasts, Could Even Flood San Francisco Airport in a Decade -- Popular Science

The Northeast U.S. has been taking the brunt of rising sea levels not just in the country but in the world, with waters rising three to four times faster than the global average, according to new data. But that doesn't spare the West Coast; in a decade, rising sea levels could flood the San Francisco International Airport.

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My Comment: In other-words .... do not buy waterfront property.

Does Pumping Groundwater Raise Sea Levels?

For many crops around the world, farmers must supplement rainfall with irrigation — and much of this added water comes from underground reservoirs. Globally, extraction rates now greatly exceed that of groundwater recharge, and have begun raising sea levels.Cinoby/Istockphoto

Pumping Groundwater Raises Sea Level -- Science News

Two new studies flag an underreported factor in global ocean change.

Pumping groundwater, some 70 percent of it to irrigate crops, has recently become a potent force in global sea-level rise, two new studies conclude.

It sounds obvious: Once brought to the surface, water will eventually run into the seas, says hydrologist Yoshihide Wada of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. But until now, most major assessments of factors affecting sea-level rise — such as those reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — ignored the role of groundwater extraction, he says. For instance, the IPCC has assumed that groundwater extraction would be largely balanced by river water impounded by dams.

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My Comment: If true .... this is a serious problem. Especially since much of our food is produced using irrigated water.

Global Sea Level Likely To Rise As Much As 70 Feet

Sea levels won't get as high as depicted in this fanciful image for a long time. But a substantial rise is inevitable, Rutgers scientists say. (Credit: © Alaska-Tom / Fotolia)

Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as Much as 70 Feet for Future Generations -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Mar. 19, 2012) — Even if humankind manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends, future generations will have to deal with sea levels 12 to 22 meters (40 to 70 feet) higher than at present, according to research published in the journal Geology.

The researchers, led by Kenneth G. Miller, professor of earth and planetary sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University, reached their conclusion by studying rock and soil cores in Virginia, Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific and New Zealand. They looked at the late Pliocene epoch, 2.7 million to 3.2 million years ago, the last time the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was at its current level, and atmospheric temperatures were 2 degrees C higher than they are now.

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My Comment: Are we repeating history .... I guess time will tell.

Climate Scientists Withdraw Journal Claims Of Rising Sea Levels

The Maldives could be hard hit by rising sea levels. Photograph: Reuters

From The Guardian:

Study claimed in 2009 that sea levels would rise by up to 82cm by the end of century – but the report's author now says true estimate is still unknown.

Scientists have been forced to withdraw a study on projected sea level rise due to global warming after finding mistakes that undermined the findings.

The study, published in 2009 in Nature Geoscience, one of the top journals in its field, confirmed the conclusions of the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It used data over the last 22,000 years to predict that sea level would rise by between 7cm and 82cm by the end of the century.

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Sea Level Is Rising Along US Atlantic Coast, Say Environmental Scientists

New Jersey coast. New research shows that sea-level rise along the Atlantic Coast of the United States was 2 millimeters faster in the 20th century than at any time in the past 4,000 years. (Credit: iStockphoto/Daniel Nydick)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Dec. 11, 2009) — An international team of environmental scientists led by the University of Pennsylvania has shown that sea-level rise along the Atlantic Coast of the United States was 2 millimeters faster in the 20th century than at any time in the past 4,000 years.

Sea-level rise prior to the 20th century is attributed to coastal subsidence. Put simply, land is being lost to subsidence as the earth continues to rise in response to the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period. Using sediment cores from the U.S. Atlantic coast, researchers found significant spatial variations in land movement, with the mid-Atlantic coastlines of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland subsiding twice as much as areas to the north and south. Coastal subsidence enhances sea-level rise, which leads to shoreline erosion and loss of wetlands and threatens coastal populations.

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Sea Levels Rose Two Feet This Summer In U.S. East

High tides lash a Destin, Florida, pavilion—usually on dry land—ahead of tropical storm Claudette on August 17, 2009. Aside from such short-term events as storms, anomalous wind and ocean patterns caused a sustained and unexpected rise in sea levels on the U.S. East Coast through much of summer 2009, according to a September 2009 report. Photograph by Mari Darr-Welch/AP

From National Geographic:

Sea levels rose as much as 2 feet (60 centimeters) higher than predicted this summer along the U.S. East Coast, surprising scientists who forecast such periodic fluctuations.

The immediate cause of the unexpected rise has now been solved, U.S. officials say in a new report (hint: it wasn't global warming). But the underlying reason remains a mystery.

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