then how can a trend be determined in such a short period of time?
the 1971 cover of Time had us entering an ice age.

@callmedubious Seriously? The cover of Time? The magazine that has the distinction of, among other things, naming its 'Person of the Year?' Hardly a scientific resource, wouldn't you agree?

@callmedubious TIME hade a mistake. It is simple.

@p-nullifidian , i'm pretty sure that the cover story had input from scientists.
maybe from the UN which released a report in 1989 stating that if drastic measures weren't taken immediately then sea levels would rise high enough to flood global coastal cities within 30 years.
i've lived beside the pacific for 45 yrs & no noticible increase in the ocean levels whatsoever.

@callmedubious Even scientists make a mistake. Except for a brief period in the from 1900 to the 1960s and 1970s, the temperature tend in the U.S. was warming temperature. Those scientists in error simply were making judgments in too short a time frame Ice ages and ages of warming last many hundred, if not thousands of years.

@callmedubious I too live close to the Pacific and I too have seen no indications of a change in sea level. But then I haven't been out there measuring it every week during different tidal periods for the past few decades. Sea level rise will be gradual and is predicted to be less than 2 meters by the end of the century, which doesn't seem like much, until you add storm surge and high tides into the mix. The Pacific Island nations are at greatest risk here.

Sea level rise is a symptom of the larger issue--a warming planet, which has been accelerating due to carbon emissions, wouldn't you agree?

@p-nullifidian There has been a continuing sea level rise in the Atlantic, and in the Indian Ocean. Are you sure about your assertions about the entire Pacific region?

@wordywalt I try not to make assertions of my own.
[scidev.net]

@p-nullifidian Yes, I agree. But, would you agree that the status of sea level at one point of the Pacific may not be representative of the entire ocean?

@p-nullifidian , no.

@p-nullifidian, @wordywalt , i think grade 9 science goes into how water levels become equal over very large areas including oceans.

@callmedubious No? So, if you don't believe that carbon emissions are contributing to a warming planet, what is your opinion regarding the average temperature of the planet and the oceans on the whole?

@p-nullifidian , i don't believe everything i read pro or con on global warming.
i do know that there is disagreement among many scientists. i've seen reports that purport to show that the temps used for doomsday predictions have been altered.
so far as i know all the predictions are based on temps accumulated since the mid 1800s which is a tiny insignificant period of our planets 4.5 billion yrs.
some scientists are still predicting that the earth is heading into a cooling period bc of reduced solar flaring. i've seen figures reported by NASA that show temps in the troposphere have cooled in recent yrs.
put it this way, i don't know but do not trust govts and i particularly don't trust ppl who are dependant on govt grants such as those scientists on which the UN bases it's predictions.

@callmedubious If tyhat is the case, why is it that you are not seeing any sea level rise where you are, and sea level rises are being seen all around the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean??? Your logic breaks down.

@wordywalt , i don't agree that there are sea level rises of any significance in any oceans.
i do recall that there are some islands in the indian ocean (seychelles?) that some scientists predicted would be under water by now. just hasn't happened.

@callmedubious The sea level rise is slow If you lived in Florida beach towns like Miami, people there would be angry with, as they are suffering real effects.

@wordywalt , there are a lot of places that were not far enough above sea level to support large cities, new orleans is another example.
but even if sea levels are rising at miniscule rates there is a real chance that global temps could turn back down before real damage could occur to most coastal cities.
the el nino & la nina currents also affect sea levels. sea levels in 2010 & 2011 actually decreased bc of the el nino affect.

@callmedubious I do not understand why you go to such effort to deny climate change.

@wordywalt i think my handle speaks volumes.