Posted by jack ruby on 4/16/2009, 11:09 am, in reply to "Record of Rapid Sea Level Rise"

Nice report Target. Huge implications with rapid climate change (whether it be human induced or not). Over the past several decades our view of the past has switched somewhat, from being one of slow-steady gradual change, to more rapid fluctuations, first in one direction, then the other. Changes in temp affecting precip over large areas of the globe, also. Good report. --Previous Message-- : 10 feet in 50 years is a very rapid sea level : rise indicated by 121,000 year old coral. : : Time to add height to levees.... : : "By measuring the decay of thorium in : the reefs, the researchers estimated their : age at roughly 121,000 years old—from a : period in the Pleistocene epoch known as the : Eemian interglacial, which saw average : temperatures that were roughly 3.6 degrees : Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) warmer, : higher sea levels, and less ice than : today." : : "The buried reefs revealed that sea : level rises of as much as two inches (five : centimeters) per year resulted in at least a : 6.6 foot (two meter) jump in as little as 50 : years, based on a series of reefs retreating : closer to a receding shore over time. An : older reef's tip crested at roughly 10 feet : (three meters) above present sea level but a : second reef crest farther inland grew 10 : feet higher than that, indicating that sea : level had risen by as much as 10 feet by the : time the latter formed because corals grow : nearly to sea level, according to the : findings published today in Nature." : : : http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=ancient-corals-provide-record-of-rapid-sea-level-rise :