Oh my fence sitters a study encompassing a whole 40 years. Impressive.
Okay lets have a look. AGW is causing the sea level to rise is the charge. Here we have been treated to actual measurements on the high side of IPCC projections which is a switch. Alright lets have a look.
Here is the satellite data from Topex/Poseidon.
No doubt about it sea level has risen 30mm +/- 10mm in the past 15 years. Is AGW real? Not so sure. But, the sea level has been measured with great precision for more than a century. Let's look at NASA's satellite data along with a century of sea level measurements.
Now we have established that the satellite data fits perfectly with the sea level direct measurement trends for more than 100 years. If AGW, driven by CO2 concentrations was causing the ice to melt because of rising temperatures this data would not look like this. The trends should look like this.
The trends don't match and they should if what the Warmunist are saying is true. The first two studies should feature a much steeper upward trend.
But, we really should look at one more longer view I think. We can look at coral reef proxies to see what we should see. Specific species of coral grow and specific depths, and since coral is calcium carbonate it can be carbon dated. These proxies reveal shoreline erosion patterns, river delta deposits and many other factors.
What we see here is since the end of the last ice age sea level rose rapidly for about 15,000 years. 7,000 years ago the rise in sea level slowed dramatically. At this point sea level has risen slowly when compared to previous rate. (Beginning to see the folly in a puny 40 year study featuring just a few cm or mm rise?) When you look at this study we see a sea level change of 130 meters give and take. And, where is the huge short term near vertical spike in this study?
Fence sitters what is going on here is a few shell game artists are making a big deal about trends within normal variables to scare you out of your money and freedom.