Posts

Showing posts from May, 2018

Sea Level Rise

Sea-level has undeniably been rising for the last 10,000 years, since the end of the last ice age. In the 130 years from 1870 to 2000, global sea level rose by about 200 mm. That’s 8 inches. This works out to about 1.5 mm/yr. Between 1950 (when the anthropogenic signature begins) and 2000, sea level rose about 75 mm (3 inches). That’s a pretty decent historical record.   A simple linear extrapolation of this trend gets you to 125 mm by 2100. That is an additional 5 inches or so. I’m not saying that is a good estimate of what will happen, but it’s probably a good starting point. In my view, it is probably towards the low end of what we would expect to see in the next 80 years. In a bay with 6-foot swings in tide twice daily, 5 inches is not going to change anything. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/sea-level/ According to satellite data since 1993, the rate is about double the historical rate. If that trend were to continue, sea level will be another 10 inches above to