University of Colorado sea level experts finally published the long delayed U.S. satellite sea level measurement data. (click on images to enlarge)
The Univ. of Colorado's satellite data sources confirm that the hysterical IPCC and NASA "climate scientists" claims of current, dangerous, "accelerating" sea level increases are entirely without merit. In actuality, these claims were past predictions generated from the failed "expert" climate models.
Just how bad were these predictions? In viewing this next graph, the rate of sea level increase leveled off in 2003 and in subsequent years declined (decelerated) - h/t Hockey Schtick. Not a single IPCC-NASA-NOAA ocean expert/scientist/model predicted this outcome. Not a single politician/bureaucrat/Hollywood celebrity predicted this outcome. The actual outcome was the direct opposite of what the "consensus" human experts and computer models predicted.
In the left's/green's battle against the scientific data, the job of embellishing the sea-level fabricated hysteria is the major priority of the mainstream media and various "science" journals. They have become hyperventilating publishers of every ludicrous climate model sea-story prediction that alarmists can conjure up, while totally disregarding the actual satellite and coastal tide gauge empirical evidence.
They do this in order to convince the public of the reality of the millions of climate refugees caused by the warmest decade and year 'evaaar'. This has to be since human emissions just had to produce the warmest year and decade 'evaaar', which just has to be melting the Greenland ice cap, mountain glaciers and the Antarctic ice sheets faster than anyone 'evaaar' predicted. And of course, all this "accelerated" melting has to result in the most accelerating sea levels 'evaaar' - not.
Despite the non-scientific, continuous media/journal hype, and the wild "expert" predictions (WAGs), both the satellites and tidal gauges are reporting that sea level increases are slowing down towards soon-to-be, non-significant rates. The objective, dispassionate empirical evidence reveals the miserable and abject failure of climate experts' and models' predictions.
Sooo, do atmospheric CO2 levels have a major influence on sea levels? As the immediate above graph clearly depicts, the sea level changes between satellite measurements (approximately every 10 days) are highly variable, with no apparent relationship to the monotonous, monthly increasing CO2 levels. The mauve curve represents the rolling 12-month average of the sea level changes indicating zero CO2 influence and that "accelerating" change to be a non-issue.
Does modern global warming cause accelerating sea level increases? Well, the red dots above represent the moving 12-month global temperature average. That temperature average has slightly increased since 1992 but the actual sea level change (rolling 12-month level change in the above graph) has actually trended downward, which is very visible in the above graph. The mauve line in this graph represents a 3-year rolling average that corroborates the known facts: sea level increases are actually decelerating, despite the known warming.
So, putting all hyperbole to the side, what are the real sea level facts based on the data, not speculative, unsubstantiated predictions:
- Sea levels have been rising over the last 20,000 years since the last glaciation, and are likely to continue to so in near future.
- Sea level increases started to accelerate coming out of the Little Ice Age some 250 years ago, and then slowed.
- Study after study has proven that sea levels are not accelerating to dangerous heights, as predicted by those scientists seeking/maintaining government subsidies for global warming research.
- Sea levels could start accelerating, or they may continue to decelerate, which no expert nor climate model can accurately predict.
- Sea level changes and trends (weekly, monthly, annual and decade-wide, etc.) have wide variations (positive and negative) that are a result of non-CO2 and non-AGW factors.
Additional sea-level and failed-prediction postings. Other sea-level and modern temp charts.