lightblueline

When ice melt is excluded from predictions of sea level rise in the next century, we are left with a much more certain model prediction based on the thermal expansion of the ocean (e.g., perhaps the "best case scenario"). The ocean expands predictably when it gets hotter. Scientists can predict that thermal expansion alone describes sea level rise of a couple feet or more by 2100. Even this amount of sea level rise is very problematic for regions where the slope of the land away from the coastline is gentle. Of course it also threatens every beach with increased erosion, and it also increases the vulnerability of coastal water sources.

Adapting to these predictions will burden coastal communities and states financially and politically. In North Carolina, geologists are warning about a future where sea level rise will impact their locales.

"If the Earth warms another two or three degrees, the sea level along North Carolina's coast is projected to rise by as much as two feet, accelerating erosion, destroying recreational beaches and possibly inundating parts of the Outer Banks.
'I think this issue is probably the most pressing issue to North Carolina as well as the other coastal states,' Jeffress Williams, a coastal marine geologist with the U.S. Geologic Survey, said Friday to a state panel studying the effects of global warming.

The panel is working on recommendations to be presented to the General Assembly, including some that might be ready for the coming session."

You can read the entire news report here:

Global warming scenario sobering

Newsobserver.com January 13, 2007.