CO2 and sea level

Abstract

There is considerable discussion currently about the potential effects of carbon dioxide build‐up in the atmosphere over the next several decades. The sources of information are two Government funded reports, one by the National Research Council (NRC), the other by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), both were released within the last five months. The reports were described recently as being conservative, although the consequences of the resulting greenhouse effects are deemed inevitable. Atmospheric warming on a global scale of as much as 5°C cannot be avoided, only perhaps delayed by a few years at best (Environ. Sci. Technol, 18, 45A–46A, 1984). The cause is the burning of fossil fuels. Oil will not be too important because its supplies are predictably exhausted on the time scale of 50–100 years. Coal burning is considered as the main source of carbon dioxide. Among the more spectacular results of a global temperature rise over the next 100 years is the expected rise in sea level of a minimum of 70 cm (Oceanus, Winter, 1983/84). If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet breaks up and melts, the rise could be in the several meter range. Sea level rose only 15 cm in the past century.