Well, it's not just AlGore and his wizards of smart in the environmentalist industry touting this myth. The administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy, recently traveled to Miami, Florida, to "raise awareness" about stopping global warming and preventing sea level rise. McCarthy predicted that global warming will melt glaciers, expand the oceans, and flood the nation's coastal areas.
Omigosh! The seas are rising, the seas are rising!
However, in a Washington Times article, two scientists--Bob Carter and Tom Harris--want people to calm down and be reasonable. Carter and Harris are no Joe Schlubs who are members of the Flat Earth Society. Carter heads the School of Earth Sciences at James Cook University in Australia; Harris directs the International Climate Science Coalition.
The duo argues that a sea level rise due to global warming is not a real problem. Their explanation:
- There has been ZERO global warming for the last 18 years.
- There has been ZERO ocean warming since at least 2003.
- The rate of sea level rise has actually decelerated during the last few decades, despite a 9% rise in carbon dioxide.
Calling the idea that greenhouse gases and global warming lead to sea level rise "fallacious," Carter and Harris note that sea level is a function of water volume, ocean current movement, and uplift or subsidence of the earth below sea level measuring stations. To measure the warming of the magnitude McCarthy worries about would require major melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps. However, those polar ice caps have not melted in the past, even in eras much warmer than today.
But, hold on. There's more to this story.
Even if the sea level rise that McCarthy predicts is likely, Carter and Harris say the problem will be local and regional, not global. Affected coastal regions can take steps to adapt to any future sea level change.
Really?
Could it possibly be that human beings are able adapt to the environment?
Let the discussion begin...
To read the Carter and Harris article in the Washington Times, click on the following link:
"Another EPA alarm about rising seas that aren't rising."