http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/2011/07/08/tracking-predicting-planning-for-sea-level-rise/
NPR’s Radio Times had an extremely relevant conversation pertaining to Delaware’s susceptibility to sea level rise and land subsistence. Wilmington could be the new Rehobeth…
I’m on a giant hill, bring the water on!
Yes, Andrew, Delaware will be subject to many more sources of sea level rise. A few years back, when the IPCC issued their current assesmentand forecasts for global warming, they predicted 1-3 feet of sea level rise. But that was with a big caveat omission of the effects on major Ice sheets like Greenland and Antarctica. At that time, major studies were just under way and first results were several years off. So they footnoted that forecast with the possibility of addititional sea level rise from the melting of these ice sheets.
Well, now some of those results are coming in. Greenland and Antarctica are and will melt faster than predicted. New mechanisms of waming and heat transfer are being discovered for those regions.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/332165/title/Greenland’s_ice_sheets_face_new_threat
And we may expect additional FEET of sea level rise, over and above the last IPCC estimate. Its a work in progress, as we add more GHGs to the air each day in increasing amounts.
The odd thing is, that the massive sulfur emmisions from China burning coal, are cooling the atmosphere, temporarily. but China is working hard to clean their air, as their cities are choking in the smog. So as they reduce supfur emissions, warming will accelerate in the future. like a coiled spring.
Sulfur emissions 'mask' global warming - UPI.com
Much like the year 1816 and froze to death. The year without a summer. Global cooling from sulfuric acid emission in the air from Mount Tamboro. But it only lasts a year or two after the sulfer emissions stop.
Thanks for the info Ken; it seems the more information published, the bleaker the projections become for our state.