Skip to content

When talking sea level, not all facts appear to be equal

Hard to tell if ice cap water is having effect
15747056_web1_letters-1

When talking sea level, not all facts appear to be equal

In a letter to the editor, Cal Bellerrive states that” Rising sea levels are a fact”. (Rising sea levels should nix Cowichan Bay causeway re-zoning)

Not according to the research I have done.

A National Geographic article states that the oceans have risen between 4 and 8 inches in the last 100 years. Yet another graph states the rise in sea level in the last 120 years was 20 centimetres. (7.8 inches)

The facts is that there was no way of accurately measuring sea levels, let alone a hundred years ago. One of the articles attached states the data used to establish an “alleged” sea level rise was by a “combined tide-gauge and satellite altimetry data”.

There is a very serious problem here. A tide-gauge is anchored on a land mass with no way of knowing if the land mass was rising or falling due to earths plate movements which would provide faulty readings. Also, the altimeter measuring satellites were sent into orbit in 1989, not a 120 years ago. On another site on the internet it clearly states that it is impossible to measure sea level rise or falls because of many, many factors.

In respect to the melting of polar ice causing sea level rise. Scientific facts are that, “As floating ice melts, it only replaces the volume of water it originally displaced”. Both the north and south polar ice, known as ice “caps”, are floating, and therefore, will never cause ocean levels to rise.

Mr. Bellerive, I am one of “the small minority” that you refer to and should “not be believed” however, in all due respect, how can you deny scientific facts and common sense?

John Walker

Cobble Hill