Troublesome news for coastal dwellers
Sea level has been rising over the last few months (as it does every Northern Hemisphere autumn) and is almost as high now as when Envisat started taking measurements in 2003. If sea level continues to rise at this rate, an ant may drown sometime in the next millennium. Or perhaps not.
lol, it is a very frightening rate of rise!!!
So how long ago was sea level at zero meters, since in that graph it ranges from 4.7 to 5 meters?
why does it rise in autumn?
Yes, you would have thought it would “fall”!!
I’m going to guess it’s because there is more water surface in the southern Hemisphere, and that surface is warming.
“why does it rise in autumn?”
Because the sun was shining over the N Hemisphere in summer heating the land and water. Water has a heat capacity about 4 times that of air; this means that a given amount of water needs about 4 times as much heat to raise its temperature as that needed to raise the temperature of an equivalent amount of air. It takes a long time to heat the water, but the water also takes longer to cool.
“So how long ago was sea level at zero meters, since in that graph it ranges from 4.7 to 5 meters?”
The base is 1993 and the height is in cm. Meters E-01 equals cm.
http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/en/news/ocean-indicators/mean-sea-level/
Clever clogs.
Ya got that right, they wouldn’t be called alarmist if they weren’t trying to make things look more alarming than what it actually is.
Another question then, if you trend the line from the Envisat graph back to 1993, what would be the measurement?
What ES, you don’t have an answer to this one?
But if you draw a line along the lowest annual levels you can plainly see that the ocean is filling up.
Fortunately, that water is becoming so highly acidic that it may erode enough of the earth’s crust to compensate for that. That could, however, create massive GHG emissions (water vapour) if it penetrates to where temperatures are several million degrees, not to mention the constant tsunamis from that.
Faced with this certain crisis, top experts on LSD (Land-Sea Doomsday) are now putting their options for draining the ocean under the strobelight: wind-powered pump and water sequestration systems, an elaborate series of inter-ocean tubes, and the recreation of a major global ice age.
“We must get our act together,” said one former Beach Boy with decades of experience observing the sea level. “I don’t remember it being so high. I’m not getting good vibrations anymore.”
If the acidic ocean reaches the hot rocks it will put the sauna people out of business.
Maybe this will help:
It’s sad to remember how great California was…..
California is still great. I go there every chance I get.
ES says:
December 30, 2011 at 11:39 pm
“why does it rise in autumn?”
Because the sun was shining over the N Hemisphere in summer heating the land and water. Water has a heat capacity about 4 times that of air; this means that a given amount of water needs about 4 times as much heat to raise its temperature as that needed to raise the temperature of an equivalent amount of air. It takes a long time to heat the water, but the water also takes longer to cool.
ES, this is a GLOBAL average. the effect is going the other way in the other hemisphere!! Of course, since the southern hemisphere has much more ocean it is absorbing a lot more energy and is the larger driver for the cycles. Notice the low points are in the NH summer when the SH has been getting the least energy.
Steven Goddard,
California, my home, is a beautiful state with very messed up people. I’ve lived in Lodi, Bakersfield, LA area, Fairfield, San Mateo, Thousand Oaks, Concord, and San Francisco. The larger areas are more messed up.
KuhnKat’s reply is right on the money! Thermal expansion will cause rise, and the Southern Oceans gain most heat in the NH winter.