Sea Levels are Rising?

I just listened to a recent NPR report on the melting of glaciers, especially those in Greenland. The program's science expert was Ira Flatow, who hosts Science Friday on NPR. Mr. Flatow talked at length about the fact that Greenland's glaciers are melting at breathtaking speeds. And he says that: "the world's sea-levels will increase by 20 feet when the ice has melted. He further claimed that other UN based climate predictions assure us that the sea level will increase by 20 feet or more.

Even the US EPA states that sea-levels have increased by as much as 12 inches in the past century. And predicts further increases of as much as 2 feet in this century. The basis for all this speculation is that enviros believe that Arctic Ice and Antarctic Ice are the world's "air conditioners." So as the ice melts, the speed of global warming will inevitably increase dramatically. Gee, this sounds suspiciously like the not-to-popular film: 'Day after Tomorrow."

Yet, as with all global warming and climate change predictions, the actual measurable activities do not support the hot air. In fact, the British Antarctic Survey, one of the most credible Antarctic Stations, estimates otherwise. Their 2004 statement on ice change activities for the Antarctic seems much less sure of its results. Here's the direct quote:

"Ironically there is an opposing effect (to rising sea levels) that scientists are more confident in predicting. If the southern hemisphere climate warms, warmer air will transport more moisture to Antarctica. This will give more precipitation, and the ice sheet will respond by becoming thicker (which it is today). So over the next century changes in Antarctica may actually oppose sea level rise, although it is not known if they (thickening ice changes) will be sufficient to completely counteract the thermal expansion of the oceans and the melting of glaciers outside the Antarctic region."

NPR's Flatow says: "20 feet or more" and the EPA says: "two feet or more" in sea level rise. Yet more respected and real scientific researchers say otherwise. The facts are that the sea level has rising globally by about 1mm or a little more over the past century. Some say the cause was natural thermal expansion, not an increase of water volume. So how on earth can the EPA say that US coastal sea-levels have risen by more than a foot? Because they measure erosion, not the water level. Erosion is the result of storms and man-made coastal development changes, like sea walls and other flow disrupters. But politically, 1mm sea-level rise will not support the enviro-extremist's need to paint a planet plunging into environmental hell.