Rising Sea Levels?
by Anthony Cox
Damon
Cronshaw’s article about rising sea levels drowning the CBD of Newcastle
had its amusing side with a shark meandering up King Street. However, given the
chronic failure of predictions by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate
Change [IPCC] there is probably an equal chance of that shark getting a
speeding ticket as there is King Street having enough water covering it to
allow the shark to swim up it.
The IPCC has just released its fifth report, AR5. Chapter
13 of AR5 deals with sea level rise. Chapter 13 predicts a sea level rise
of between 0.26 and 0.97 of a metre by the year 2100. So even if the worst
prediction by the IPCC of 0.97 metres comes true the shark will lose a lot of
bark from the road surface as it swims up King Street.
Sea rise comes about from 3 different causes.
Firstly there is steric sea rise which is based on a warming
sea and thermal expansion of the water. Chapter 13 of AR5 is very confident
there is thermal expansion. However it is indisputable that the sea surface has
COOLED since 2003.
And the ocean down to 700 metres has warmed less than 0.01C
since 2003 which is statistically insignificant from zero.
The IPCC claims the missing heat is at the ocean bottom but
has yet to explain how the heat can go past the top of the ocean without
leaving any trace of warming.
The second way the sea level can rise is through eustatic
rise. Eustatic rise is by extra water coming into the ocean. The main source of
fresh water into the ocean is from the world’s biggest sources of freshwater,
Greenland and the Antarctic.
New research from 2012 shows both the Greenland
and Antarctic
ice sheets have decreases in ice in some regions matched by ice increase in
other parts.
So it appears the sea level rise can’t be from either
warming or more water.
The final way sea level can rise is through isostatic
processes or movement in the land itself. But this process has nothing to do
with climate.
Given this can we be sure sea level is rising. Two
definitive studies of sea level were done in 2011. The first by Houston
and Dean looked at global sea level and concluded the rate of sea level
rise was decreasing not increasing as Chapter 13 of AR5 predicts.
The second study was by Australian researcher Dr Phil
Watson from the NSW Department of the Environment. Dr Watson also concluded
that sea level rate of increase was declining and there was no sign of the
acceleration in sea level rise predicted by the IPCC.
Newcastle measurement of sea level rise is by the
international group Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level [PSMSL]. PSMSL has four sea level gauges at
Newcastle.
The gauges have been in use for varying periods of time.
- Gauge 1 shows an abrupt increase in 1948, probably due to isostasy and no increase from 1950 to 1960.
- Gauge 2 shows a decrease from 1972 to 1983.
- Gauge 3 shows a decrease from 1975 to 1990.
- Gauge 4 shows a decrease from 2000.
In other words the only way our shark is going up King Street
is as fish and chips.