These "facts" seem inconvenient until one considers a few facts: No one expects any sea-level rise from melting sea ice. Melting ice caps over land, however, are a different critter altogether. No competent scientist can dispute the fact that expansion and contraction of ice sheets have had a dramatic effect on sea levels over time.
Another fact: Adding more water to the ocean basins is not the only factor triggering sea-level rise. Thermal expansion of water can likewise contribute significantly to an increase in sea levels. Finally, there is the fact that the oceans would be a "spherical" body of water only on a planet completely covered by water. The oceans lie in confined basins, and any increase in sea levels will be confined to the same basins. Using spherical geometry to predict the volume of water required to produce a specific amount of sea-level rise grossly exaggerates the amount of water needed. The take-home lesson is that facts can be incovenient to those to prefer ideology to reality. Dave ------------------------------------------------------ David M. Lawrence | Home: (804) 559-9786 7471 Brook Way Court | Fax: (804) 559-9787 Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] USA | http: http://fuzzo.com ------------------------------------------------------ "We have met the enemy and he is us." -- Pogo "No trespassing 4/17 of a haiku" -- Richard Brautigan -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James T. Conklin Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 4:40 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Ocean Level Rising Inconvenient Facts regarding rising ocean level: 1. The ocean level is unchanged when floating ice melts. 2. The ocean is a spherical body of water. The ocean volume varies as the cube of the ocean radius. Therefore, for the ocean radius to increase 20 feet, the ocean volume must increase 8,000 times more than for a 1-foot radius increase. For the ocean radius to increase 40 feet, the ocean volume must increase 64,000 times more than for a 1-foot radius increase.
