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The NY Times ran a seriously comprehensive article today on the current state of glacier melt and how it's leading to rising sea levels. In particular, it focuses on the dearth of research devoted to rising sea levels:

Scientists long believed that the collapse of the gigantic ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica would take thousands of years, with sea level possibly rising as little as seven inches in this century, about the same amount as in the 20th century.

But researchers have recently been startled to see big changes unfold in both Greenland and Antarctica.

As a result of recent calculations that take the changes into account, many scientists now say that sea level is likely to rise perhaps three feet by 2100 -- an increase that, should it come to pass, would pose a threat to coastal regions the world over.

But for all the research conducted, these same scientists really don't know how accurate this three foot increase prediction really is:

And the calculations suggest that the rise could conceivably exceed six feet, which would put thousands of square miles of the American coastline under water and would probably displace tens of millions of people in Asia.

Sea-level rise has been a particularly contentious element in the debate over global warming. One published estimate suggested the threat was so dire that sea level could rise as much as 15 feet in this century. Some of the recent work that produced the three-foot projection was carried out specifically to counter more extreme calculations.

It is indisputable that the temperature of mother Earth is rising:

Sea-level rise has been a particularly contentious element in the debate over global warming. One published estimate suggested the threat was so dire that sea level could rise as much as 15 feet in this century. Some of the recent work that produced the three-foot projection was carried out specifically to counter more extreme calculations.

A large majority of climate scientists argue that heat-trapping gases are almost certainly playing a role in what is happening to the world's land ice. They add that the lack of policies to limit emissions is raising the risk that the ice will go into an irreversible decline before this century is out, a development that would eventually make a three-foot rise in the sea look trivial.

And yet they still feel obligated to find that odd-man-out scientist who believes that humans are to blame for this rise in the global thermometer:

Strictly speaking, scientists have not proved that human-induced global warming is the cause of the changes. They are mindful that the climate in the Arctic undergoes big natural variations. In the 1920s and '30s, for instance, a warm spell caused many glaciers to retreat.

John R. Christy, a climatologist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville who is often critical of mainstream climate science, said he suspected that the changes in Greenland were linked to this natural variability, and added that he doubted that the pace would accelerate as much as his colleagues feared.

For high predictions of sea-level rise to be correct, "some big chunks of the Greenland ice sheet are going to have to melt, and they're just not melting that way right now," Dr. Christy said.

So they pick one long-time climate-change denier, which should be expected in this tit-for-tat media culture we live in, but as ClimateProgress.org states:

The NYT should at least try to quote disinformers with relevant expertise. As the link the NYT provides makes clear, Christy has no publications in this area. His 'expertise' is in temperature trends and satellite measurements, but even there, how many times one has to be wrong before the media stops quoting you? (see "Should you believe anything John Christy and Roy Spencer say?").

In any event, the article is incredibly comprehensive and should be read as soon as possible. Amazing photos can be viewed here.

And then run over to ClimateProgress.org to see what they got right and what they got wrong.

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