NASA Scientists Suggest We've Been Underestimating Sea Level Rise (vice.com)

Our current estimate about the global sea level is "way off" according to a new study. The study published in Geophysical Research Letters this month suggests that our historial sea level records have been off by an underestimation of five to 28 percent. From a report on Motherboard: Global sea level, the paper concluded, rose no less than 5.5 inches over the last century, and likely saw an increase of 6.7 inches. The reason for this discrepancy was uncovered by earth scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. By comparing newer climate models with older sea level measurements, the team discovered that readings from coastal tide gauges may not have been as indicative as we thought. These gauges, located at more than a dozen sites across the Northern Hemisphere, have been a primary data source for estimating sea level changes during the last several decades. "It's not that there's something wrong with the instruments or the data, but for a variety of reasons, sea level does not change at the same pace everywhere at the same time," said Philip Thompson, the study's lead author and associate director of the University of Hawa'i Sea Level Center, in a statement. "As it turns out, our best historical sea level records tend to be located where past sea level rise was most likely less than the true global average."

Comments

Headline VERY misleading

[Geoffrey.landis]

The headline is quite misleading. What the story actually says is that the previous estimate was 1.6 cm per decade, and the new number is 1.7 cm per decade--with an error range that it might be as low as 1.4.

Really this isn't "We've been wrong!"-- it's more "we have a slightly better estimate now."

The abstract of the article is here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com...

Re: About These Weekly Climate Panic Articles...

[ClickOnThis]

Thanks for reminding us of the heavy financial motivations for pro-AGW climate research! I agree, it is indeed sinful.

Um, facepalm. Just facepalm.

Climate-change scientists are not living large. But the well-heeled supporters of the denialist movement certainly are.