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The Forum > Article Comments > How high will seas rise? > Comments

How high will seas rise? : Comments

By Orrin Pilkey and Rob Young, published 20/1/2010

Governments, businesses, and homeowners should assume that the world’s oceans will rise by at least two metres.

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Loudmouth, warm water rises and cold water sinks, why would that be?

Yes, I do think you missed something. I suspect you are missing a lot of things.
Posted by Bugsy, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 1:00:51 PM
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Joe, you missed something. Water does indeed expand as it gets hotter. Somewhat counter-intuitively it also expands when it freezes. The curve is sort of linear until the phase change, when it reverses. Unlike most liquids, the solid form is less dense. Water is pretty weird in other ways too, for its molecular weight it "should" not be liquid at room temperature, but its polarised nature (& quantum weirdness) means it is an exception to the "rules" of molecule weight to boiling point ratio. Science is more about exceptions than rules! Rules are for management types with little imagination: good for controlling humans, but poor at modelling the world.
Continents are indeed tilting and moving about. The local strength of gravity also affects the local sea level, as does the bottom contour and currents. All of which is very interesting, but irrelevant if the average level rises by 2M or more.
I have sneaking suspicion that there will be feedbacks that re-instate the ice when it starts melting. Something like an ice-age may well occur in Europe if heat transfer currents break down, which may eventually stop the melting via albedo effects...but all this is probably takes thousands of years and we'll have to make soil and migrate our agriculture in the meantime.
Our economy is extremely unsustainable for many reasons. Sea level rise may actually prod us into actions that may ultimately save us.
Greedy Bankers, ignorance and mad priests are more dangerous to us now than sea level rise.
Posted by Ozandy, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 1:16:00 PM
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Interesting and well-researched article, from a US national perspective.

The final chapter of my new book on climate change in Australia, "Crunch Time" [Scribe], paints a detailed picture of an Australia in 2060 after a postulated one metre global sea level rise due mainly to Greenland continental icemelt, with the prospect of several more metres to come by 2100 based on growing Antarctic icemelt as well. It draws [in chapters 5 and 11] comparatively on recent work in the field by J. A. Church, James Hansen, W. T. Pfeffer, Stefan Rahmstorf, H. J. Schellnhuber, and by the US EPA and NOAA, and in Australia by the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre in Hobart [referenced in my book]. To envision such a realistically based sea level rise scenario is worth doing, to see what kind of Australia our grandchildren are likely headed for by 2060, if global apathy and policy inertia on moving away from a carbon-burning based economy continues to prevail.
Posted by tonykevin 1, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 3:43:18 PM
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There is one way to put a stop to all this hysterical nonsense.Let the betting agencies work out the odds and then the doomsayers can put their money where their mouths are.Get the doomsayers to do a prediction sea levels of say 5 yrs and then put on a bet.
Posted by Arjay, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 4:27:01 PM
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Is it time to point out Australia that tectonic plate movement is on two different scales one in time and the other is in a different quantum.

Oh yes, have those nasty AGW supporters factored in the fact that water expands as it get warmer or did they just do a cubic conversion?

And Those same people are telling us that the rise in water won't be our only problem. Cyclones in Brisy and Sydney perhaps oh well no great loss well I mean Sydney with it's Labor govt. and Brisbane... well it is in Queensland.

Isn't it wonderful how so many people can concentrate on one issue at a time. Pity nature and the Climate, AGW, environment don't.
I mean with melting glaciers (fresh water for billions of people)... don't forget the hydrological changes, drying of ground water...water resources for another billion or so, desertification, salting, acidification of the seas all meaning less food etc.Who needs food& water if say 40% of the population a great lifestyle..

Seems to me the current nit picking process is ....well.....it does make some people "feel" more comfortable.....temporarily. Always praise the good points .
Posted by examinator, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 4:44:36 PM
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Why, you all worried about whether the green house effect, rising water levels. If we don't fix the environment, a few million social issues, stop all this religious bickering, racial violence and intolerance.

If we don't solve youth suicide, violence and stop them from driving drunk into trees by the car load. If we can't stop our infernal bickering, back stabbing greedy materialistic destruction of the entire planet. And if we have missed somewhere I am sure we will find something there we have to dig up.

If we dont stop trying to annihilate each other through wars and terrorism, it won't really matter.

If we had the balls to look at those problems, global warming and rising sea levels would be a piece of cake.
Posted by Wybong, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 5:43:07 PM
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