Well, so much for sleeping a little easier knowing the earth naturally curbs rising ocean levels by soaking up water like a sponge. Yet another new study says that man-made global warming is causing oceans to rise at an unprecedented rate. As summarized in USA Today, “Global sea levels stayed fairly steady for about 3,000 years. Then, with the Industrial Revolution, global sea levels began to rise, the study said. Scientists say the seas rose 5.5 inches from 1900 to 2000, a significant increase, especially for low-lying coastal areas.” That combined with projections of even swifter ocean level rise has alarmists very concerned that our coastal cities will soon be submerged.

But before you begin work on an ark, read the response meteorologist Joe Bastardi had in an email to The Patriot Post: “When I moved to New Jersey in 1965, after the ‘62 storm, there was fear the barrier islands would be gone by 2000. Well, they aren’t. There is constant shifting going on and a 4-8 inch rise in a century is well within natural bounds. Greenland and Antarctica are fine overall.” The more important question, he posits, is how were sea levels being measured 50 years ago? Were the same methods used then as they are today? “The PDO/AMO shift coming will retard” the sea level rise, Bastardi says. “When they are warm, as they are now, sea levels are higher.” In other words, just like the earth sponge study showed, it’s all part of earth’s design.