Oh, oh– check your lines. A worst-case scenario suggest sea levels in Puget Sound could rise more than 4 feet by 2100. This would require a confluence of runaway greenhouse gas emissions…accelerated melting of glaciers on Greenland and Antarctica…and an exaggerated climate response to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
More probable is a sea-level rise of 14 inches in Puget Sound by the start of the next century…still enough to have profound impacts– so says a study by the world’s top climate scientists and policy experts. The group declared global warming “unequivocal” and declared there’s little doubt carbon dioxide and other emissions from cars and industries are largely to blame. “We tried to look at factors that are important locally,” said Philip Mote, research scientist at U of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group.”
Global sea levels are expected to rise between 7 inches and 2 feet by the end of the century, depending largely on the rate that greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere. Sea levels could climb even more if the vast amounts of ice on Greenland and Antarctica melt more rapidly than expected. Another major contributor– water expanding as it warms. But even if all greenhouse-gas emissions were shut off tomorrow, the IPCC says that our oceans will continue warming and expanding for decades. (from article by Sandi Doughton /Seattle Times science reporter. More info: cses.washington.edu/cig).
