Marcus Aurelius
07-18-2013, 01:41 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/07/18/states-battle-surging-seas-despite-uncertainty-among-climate-scientists/
Large parts of Florida may be underwater in the next few decades, and New York thinks $20 billion might save the city from the coming floodwaters of climate change, but some scientists disagree about whether there’s even a problem.
A new report in the prestigious journal Nature Geosciences concludes that water levels are set to rise by as much as seven feet in the next thousand years. With similar concerns in mind, some lawmakers say now is the time to act.
“Our best estimates of sea level rise in the next 100 years are 3three to four feet, but we can't completely rule out six or seven feet. Such a rise would devastate coastal communities that are unprepared,” Willis said.
But some scientists point to historical sea level changes as evidence that there’s not much to fear.
“The sea level has been rising since about 1800, at the end of the 'little ice age'," a period of cooling that stretched for a few hundred years, explained William Happer, who researched ocean physics for the U.S. Air Force and who currently is a physics professor at Princeton University.
"Assuming that the high rate of rise continued for a century, there would be a rise of about ten inches by the year 2113. This is much less than the difference between high and low tide for most localities,” he told FoxNews.com.
“I can't see how a sea level rise of less than one foot in a century makes any difference, and it certainly is no reason for busybody politicians to launch grand schemes in a variant of the old protection racket of organized crime,” Happer added.
But... but... Obama promised to lower the seas!
Large parts of Florida may be underwater in the next few decades, and New York thinks $20 billion might save the city from the coming floodwaters of climate change, but some scientists disagree about whether there’s even a problem.
A new report in the prestigious journal Nature Geosciences concludes that water levels are set to rise by as much as seven feet in the next thousand years. With similar concerns in mind, some lawmakers say now is the time to act.
“Our best estimates of sea level rise in the next 100 years are 3three to four feet, but we can't completely rule out six or seven feet. Such a rise would devastate coastal communities that are unprepared,” Willis said.
But some scientists point to historical sea level changes as evidence that there’s not much to fear.
“The sea level has been rising since about 1800, at the end of the 'little ice age'," a period of cooling that stretched for a few hundred years, explained William Happer, who researched ocean physics for the U.S. Air Force and who currently is a physics professor at Princeton University.
"Assuming that the high rate of rise continued for a century, there would be a rise of about ten inches by the year 2113. This is much less than the difference between high and low tide for most localities,” he told FoxNews.com.
“I can't see how a sea level rise of less than one foot in a century makes any difference, and it certainly is no reason for busybody politicians to launch grand schemes in a variant of the old protection racket of organized crime,” Happer added.
But... but... Obama promised to lower the seas!