Sea Level Perspectives

We are told by the media and other climate alarmists that sea level rise is unprecedented, disastrous, and accelerating, but measurements by tide gauges and satellites show us something completely different. Here is a plot of current (29-year) global sea level rise measured by satellites. (See here for the latest.)

Here is a plot of sea level rise for more than 160 years at Battery Park in Manhattan, New York; one of the longest tide gauge records available anywhere in the world. (See here for the latest.)

Sea level has been rising for roughly 18,000 years since the last glacial maximum when the two-mile-thick glaciers covering huge swaths of North America and northern Europe and Eurasia began to melt. Here is a plot of global sea level over the last 18,000 years.

120 meters of sea level rise is 394 feet. This cycle of global warming and cooling has happened several times over the last million years or so. Here is a reconstruction of sea levels over the last 1.8 million years based on the content of the isotope oxygen-18 in deep ocean sediments.

The important points:

• Global sea level rise and fall has been happening for billions of years.
• The rate of sea level rise and fall changes for numerous reasons, all entirely natural.
• What causes global warming and cooling and the subsequent glacial and interglacial periods isn't fully understood, though Earth's periodic orbital changes over tens of thousands of years is among those postulated to have the greatest effect. 
• The current rate of sea level rise is insignificant when viewed in historical context.
• It is impossible to measure the theorized effect humans have on sea level rise but the rate is so small compared to natural forces as to be inconsequential. 
• Based on measurements, the claims of 0.6 meters or more of sea level rise by 2100 are clearly unrealistic. The current rate measured by satellites suggest about 0.3 meters. It's even less according to the rate measured by tide gauges.

Humans have been dealing with sea level rise for thousands of years. The Dutch and others have successfully protected their land from sea level rise and even reclaimed land from the sea thanks to clever engineering. Humans can adapt to the current rate of sea level rise with the same clever engineering. The cost of doing this is far less than starving the world of fossil fuels and destroying economies in a vain attempt to "stop" global warming.

You can see for yourself what the current rate of satellite measured global sea level rise is at the University of Colorado Sea Level Research Group website.

Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) measured by satellite 

Historical Global Tide Gauge Sea Level

Sea level rise, and sea level decline in many place in the far north, is not uniform. It differs a lot because of land subsidence and uplift (post-glacial rebound). You can easily see it in this interactive map of tide gauge data from NOAA.

Sea Level Trends

The tectonic forces, gravitational perturbations, and even potential influences from beyond our solar system over the eons that shape our planet and its climate and weather are endlessly fascinating, but they happen so slowly that the ingenuity of millions of humans engineering solutions to their local problems can easily adapt to it. Beware of "global" solutions. They are always, without exception, a really bad idea with a plethora of destructive consequences.