[Coral-List] Sea Level rise

[sealab at earthlink.net]

Dear Gene,

You are right, we need to remove politics from the equation to arrive at the correct answer. The science is quite clear.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/scientists-looked-at-sea-levels-125-000-years-in-the-past-and-the-results-are-terrifying/2fvlasudj

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/current-warming-is-unparalleled-in-the-past-2-000-years/

Regards,

Steve

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On 3/4/22, 1:05 PM, Eugene Shinn via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

Dear Listers, What always bothers me about the relation between CO2 and

temperature is how can we be sure anthropogenic CO2 is the cause of

rising temperature and sea level rise. Ice cores are not my field of

study but I know that abundant data from ice cores, such as the Vostok

core, indicate a relationship between temperature and CO2. Clearly the

CO2 associated with temperature increases in the past were not caused by

burning fossil fuels. The ice cores show 4-distinct evenly spaced

temperature rises during the Pleistocene. In addition, the rise in CO2

usually peaks a few hundred years after the peak temperature. I suppose

that can be explained by CO2 expelled from the oceans due to increasing

warmth. But what caused the temperature increase in the first place?

Cores of the Pleistocene limestone that built the Florida Keys also show

3 to 4 periods of climate temperature change. The changes are marked by

iron rich red/brown soil layers caping each sedimentary unit. These

layers are identical to the well-studied soil stone layers presently

forming on the surface of Florida Keys limestone. It is clear the

Pleistocene layers represent periods of limestone exposure and thus

indicate lowered sea level. I am guessing these sea level fluctuations

are analogous to the fluctuations indicated in ice cores. I think we can

safely conclude the red/brown layers in the Pleistocene Keys limestone

indicate sea level fluctuations caused by something other than burning

fossil fuel.

How much sea level fluctuation the Pleistocene ice core temperature

changes represent is not generally known, but there is good geological

evidence that the last one, the 125,000 year-old temperature increase

(known as isotope stage 5 e) raised sea level around 27 ft above

present. I live on land formed at that time as are people living in the

Florida Keys. That the land formed when sea level was around 27 ft

higher than today could not have been caused by humans burning fossil

fuel. This may suggest the present sea level rise might also go as high

as it did 125,000 years ago. So how do we explain all this. Presumably

the Carbon isotopes in the present atmospheres CO2 identify some as the

result of burning fossil fuel. Can we identify those same isotopes in

the 125,000 year old temperature rise? I suspect the answer is no. There

were not enough people back then to create excess CO2. This suggests we

still do not know what caused stage 5 e. What ever caused sea level rise

back then may also be the cause of the present sea level rise. Or maybe

rising CO2 is not what is causing the present rise. I am just asking the

question? I think we have a long way to go before we truly know what is

causing the present sea level rise? And, will it rise as high as it did

during stage 5 e? Possibly we need to remove politics from the question

before we have the correct answer? Gene

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