I am back on the global warming beat with a new report from Science.The new study states that global ocean levels are rising twice as fast today as they were 150 years ago, and human-induced warming appears to be the culprit.
While the speed at which the ocean is rising, almost two millimeters per year today compared to one millimeter annually for the past several thousand years, affirms scientific concerns of accelerated global warming, the scientists say.
The press release on Eurekalert says, Rutgers professor of geological sciences Kenneth G. Miller reports on a new record of sea level change during the past 100 million years based on drilling studies along the New Jersey coast. The findings establish a steady millimeter-per-year rise from 5,000 years ago until about 200 years ago. In contrast, sea-level measurements since 1850 from tidal gauges and more recently from satellite images, when corrected for land settling along the shoreline, reveal the current two-millimeter annual rise.
"Without reliable information on how sea levels had changed before we had our new measures, we couldn't be sure the current rate wasn't happening all along," says Miller. "Now, with solid historical data, we know it is definitely a recent phenomenon. The main thing that's changed since the 19th century and the beginning of modern observation has been the widespread increase in fossil fuel use and more greenhouse gases," he adds. "Our record therefore provides a new and reliable baseline to use in addressing global warming."
1 comment:
I think everyone isalready concerned with the effects of accelerated global warming. The sad thing about this though, is that we don't really do anything that acknowledges this fact. We don't do anything to try and do something about global warming. I hope that this study could be read by a lot of people so they could be informed.
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