Climate related sea level change : an inconvenient fact or an irritating fiction?
Hannah, John
Climate change has been a focus of scientific study for over 25 years. It has resulted in numerous scientific papers as well as five comprehensive assessment reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Despite this plethora of data, there remain some, such as Lord Christopher Monckton and Professor Nils-Axel MMrner, prominent sceptics, who maintain that anthropogenic climate change is not happening and that rising sea levels do not constitute the risk claimed by the IPCC. Such sceptics typically see future changes as being small and the product of natural processes that are largely uninfluenced by human activity. This is a crucial issue for a number of FIG member bodies, particularly those associated with small, low-lying islands [sometimes known as Small Island Developing States (SIDS)]. This paper reviews the available science data (at least as it relates to sea levels) and compares it against the claims made by climate change sceptics such as Lord Monckton. Such claims are soundly refuted. The paper concludes by providing balanced guidance on likely sea level change to those who seek to prepare for the future.
Event: XXV FIG International Congress : Engaging the Challenges, Enhancing the Relevance
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