Pat Shingleton for April 26, 2008
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It is estimated that sea level was 400 feet lower 18,000 years ago than it is today. The reason was the amount of water in the polar ice caps. Global sea level has risen approximately 7.9 inches during the last century.
If the Greenland ice cap were to melt, the global sea level would rise 24 feet. Harold Wanless of the University of Miami‘s Department of Geological Sciences believes that a 3-foot rise could be “messy.”
The Associated Press reports that Wanless predicts that a 4-foot rise would make it extremely difficult to live in South Florida and that it would be “probably” impossible to live with a 5-foot rise. A 2-foot rise would be manageable.
Fastcast: Showery.
