It IS about time as well. How many humans were around when the rocks forming Mt Everest, or Denver, Colorado, were at the bottom of seas, accumulating those sea shells that “she sells”?? Yep, tectonics is interesting and sometimes relatively “quick” as I noted earlier.
The FLOATING ice has never been a sea rise problem, but a changing of the chemistry problem. The terrestrial ice melt will raise levels. The relatively “quick” influence, taking place in less than a century (really fast geologically speaking) , of sea level rise is already impacting low-lying wetlands around the world, increasing salinity of fresh or brackish waters that support large populations of aquatics, and the people who harvest them. When salinity in these wet areas increases, kiss off the crops.(Gee! We’re doing this NOW by contaminating the Ogalala aquifer under our midwest “breadbasket” as well!!) This only takes a slight increase in sea levels to have huge impacts. We are NOT talking about inundating Manhattan, or Miami, (hmmm, Jake’s Stone Crab Restaurant might be on a boat?) in the SHORT term.
What is frustrating is conveying that SOME impacts have already BEEN occurring(species impacts on land) and other impacts are a short time down the road; in a century or two!
As the population of the planet will pass 7 billion this year, and go to 9 billion in another decade or two(even though “fertility” is down) elbow room might bring on more serious problems, and combine that with the physical/biological impacts of a warming climate as well, and it ain’t pretty.
It IS about time as well. How many humans were around when the rocks forming Mt Everest, or Denver, Colorado, were at the bottom of seas, accumulating those sea shells that “she sells”?? Yep, tectonics is interesting and sometimes relatively “quick” as I noted earlier.
The FLOATING ice has never been a sea rise problem, but a changing of the chemistry problem. The terrestrial ice melt will raise levels. The relatively “quick” influence, taking place in less than a century (really fast geologically speaking) , of sea level rise is already impacting low-lying wetlands around the world, increasing salinity of fresh or brackish waters that support large populations of aquatics, and the people who harvest them. When salinity in these wet areas increases, kiss off the crops.(Gee! We’re doing this NOW by contaminating the Ogalala aquifer under our midwest “breadbasket” as well!!) This only takes a slight increase in sea levels to have huge impacts. We are NOT talking about inundating Manhattan, or Miami, (hmmm, Jake’s Stone Crab Restaurant might be on a boat?) in the SHORT term.
What is frustrating is conveying that SOME impacts have already BEEN occurring(species impacts on land) and other impacts are a short time down the road; in a century or two!
As the population of the planet will pass 7 billion this year, and go to 9 billion in another decade or two(even though “fertility” is down) elbow room might bring on more serious problems, and combine that with the physical/biological impacts of a warming climate as well, and it ain’t pretty.