This article from the journal science, says that certain variables would need to be accelerated absurdly fast for sea levels to rise more than two meters, and that a rise in the order of 80 centimeters is far more likely.

According to this graph sea levels have risen 20 centimeters over the past 100 years.

From this I conclude that rising sea levels due to global warming don't pose a serious or immediate threat to the nations of the world.

... Who said that there'd be an immediate threat? None of the doomsday scenarios I heard involved death by flooding.

And I'm good at doomsday scenarios. This is my preferred one: As global warming increases, it'll create a positive feedback mechanism by releasing methane stored under the arctic (or whatever else melts). This will continue for a while, and the resulting heat wave will kill millions in Africa, Middle East, etc. A northwards general population movement will result, and wars will be fought over the remaining energy and water resources as those grow scarcer.

I'm an optimist .

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 31 2009, 1:48 am by Centreri.

Ya all the current doomsday theories im afraid of have nothing to do with water (except the one i made up for my mod, but thats completely irrelevant) But eitherway global warming still poses as a threat, if nothing else, it affects the things like forst fires (as explained in my 2012 topic)

But ya, I never really thought that water level was that big of a problem, a couple ice caps distributed through out the entire world wouldnt be much, but its the long term effects im worried about.

Like centri kind of said, the danger is in when we get into a positive feedback loop. When the Earth starts getting hotting simply BECAUSE the Earth getting hotter, then we've got an accelerated problem.

Yeah, I'm definitely not saying that global warming isn't a threat, because it is, but Al Gore's "Florida will be underwater" "the sea level will rise 20 feet in 100 years" is completely bogus.

Actually I watched the part in question. Al Gore is saying that millions of people will be underwater because Greenland and Antarctica will melt, so I'm not so sure if glaciers come into this anymore.
Never mind, I actually read the article and they might. I still don't understand this stuff very well though.

So everything you've said so far holds no weight and this entire thread has no purpose... is what you're saying there. But you're right, over 100 miles from the coast like I am, rising sea levels pose little threat to me. But to coastal areas where a lot of cities are? Sucks to be them!

So this topic is actually about an inconvenient truth? Conservatives really need to just let some things go after so many years...

Well, if there is any hope of breathing some life into this topic, I just read that floating ice doesn't raise the sea level. First time I had heard it, but I'm sure it's old news to a lot of you. However, I'm not sure what percentage of ice is floating and what is situated on land.

That's basic science. H20 expands when it cools, making the same cubic meter of ice weigh less than a cubic meter of water. That's why it was hypothesized that global warming would heat the polar caps, causing the ice to melt and raise the sea level. But, I doubt that enough ice would melt to cause the sea level to rise dramatically.


As a moderator, I have to say I think this topic has come to its end. I'll close it within a day if no one posts something to argue about.