Stephan: When I talk with people, or correspond with them, even people who have strong feelings about preparing for climate change, I notice that most seem to think that when we get to net zero carbon that that should fix things. As this paper by a researcher makes clear that is not the case, particularly concerning sea rise. The reality is that the best scientific projections make it clear 100s of millions of people around the world are going to be displaced by this sea rise, and that includes millions in the United States. If you live in a coastal area, or along an estuary, I would make an effort to see what the future of your area will look like, and when it will be time to move before your real estate is worthless, or nearly so.
A rendering shows what Marina Del Rey, California would look like due to eventual sea level rise with a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius. Credit: Climate Central
If you were to dig a (very) deep hole that passed through the center of the Earth and kept going to the other side of the planet, where do you think you’d come out?
Unless you start digging from a handful of locations on the planet, you are very likely to find that the antipodes—or opposite point on Earth to where you are now—will be in the ocean.
While this might be surprising initially, it isn’t really when you realize that land only covers 29 percent of the Earth’s surface, and even then, isn’t distributed evenly.
So how much water is there actually on the planet—in liquid, solid and gas form? And why are we in danger of the sea reclaiming some of the Earth’s land—aka rising sea levels?
Water, water, everywhere
There is estimated to be more than 1 billion cubic kilometers of water on the planet, or 1,386,000,000 km3 to be […]
