Climate Change and Rising Sea Levels

The New York Times asked “How high could the tide go?” today in its ScienceTimes section. The article, by Justin Gillis, profiles a team researching sea level rise through Earth’s millennia, looking for clues on what we can expect from man-made climate change. The verdict is that as much as three to six feet of sea level rise will likely occur in this century, which would displace millions of people currently living in coastal areas. Gillis talked to Dr. Maureen E. Raymo of Columbia University, one of the leaders on the project: 

““I wish I could take people that question the significance of sea level rise out in the field with me,” Dr. Raymo said. “Because you just walk them up 30 or 40 feet in elevation above today’s sea level and show them a fossil beach, with shells the size of a fist eroding out, and they can look at it with their own eyes and say, ‘Wow, you didn’t just make that up.’ ”

If you’re interested in learning more about sea level rise and Dr. Raymo’s work, Pulitzer Center grantee Dan Grossman followed her and her team on a 4,000 mile research trek in Australia and produced Deep Water, a TED eBook available on all eReader platforms. You can also read more of Dan’s work on the local effects of global climate change on the Pulitzer Center website.image

Mount Hualcan, about 20,000 feet above sea level. Image by Dan Grossman. Peru, 2011.

Source: bit.ly

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