Sea level rising slowing?
Dec 16, 2008 Information of the Day
Sea levels
Satellite altimetry data indicates that the rate at which the world’s oceans are rising has slowed significantly since 2005. Before the decrease, sea level had been rising by more than 3mm/year, which corresponds to an increase of about one foot per century. Since 2005, however, the rate has been closer to 2mm/year.
Sea level rise was calculated from altimetry data from the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 satellite missions and published by the University of Colorado, Boulder. This has set off debates amongst the strongest believers and non-believers of the global warming trend.
The decrease is significant as global climate models predict sea level rise to accelerate as atmospheric CO2 continues to increase. In the 1990s, when such acceleration appeared to be occurring, some scientists pointed to it as confirmation the models were operating correctly. These findings could be used by many forarguing against strong measures to curb emissions in the current financial crisis.
Tags: Global Warming, US
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