Part of our core mission? Exposing the Left's blatant hypocrisy. Help us continue the fight and support the 2024 Year-End Campaign now.

December 13, 2018

Climatologist Rebuts Rising Sea Level Narrative

Not that you’ll hear about it from the press, which is preoccupied with alarm.

It’s often observed that those with the shrillest voices garner the most attention. Unsurprisingly therefore, the climate debate is overwhelmed by alarmist drivel. Just this week NBC News pilloried the Trump administration under the intentionally perturbing headline, “Trump team advocates burning fossil fuels, even as U.S. scientists sound alarm on melting Arctic.”

Such antics are unfortunate. They are routine only because other distinguished scientists, whose work supplies necessary context and counterarguments, are being drowned out, overlooked, or even ignored. Climatologist Judith Curry is one of those scientists whose work is often snubbed. Why? Here’s one reason: By her estimation, the ramifications of rising ocean levels are greatly exaggerated. She says, “Projections of extreme, alarming impacts are very weakly justified to borderline impossible.”

In February 2017, The Patriot Post documented the meager rise in sea levels in part by including this citation from NOAA: “Sea level continues to rise at a rate of about one-eighth of an inch (3.2 mm) per year, due to a combination of melting glaciers and ice sheets, and thermal expansion of seawater as it warms.”

If that sounds just as underwhelming to you as it does to us, you’re not alone. In a recent report, Curry addresses the alarm over the supposed cataclysmic consequences of rising sea levels. She points out, “For reference, 3 mm is the height of two stacked pennies.” She provides several additional points, including:

  • “Rates of global mean sea level rise between 1920 and 1950 were comparable to recent rates. It is concluded that recent change is within the range of natural sea level variability over the past several thousand years.”

  • “Identifying a potential human fingerprint on recent sea level rise is confounded by the large magnitude of natural internal variability associated with ocean circulation patterns. There is not yet any convincing evidence of such a fingerprint on sea level rise associated with human-caused global warming.”

  • “In many of the most vulnerable coastal locations, the dominant causes of local sea level rise problems are natural oceanic and geologic processes and land use practices. Land use and coastal engineering in the major coastal cities have brought on many of the worst local problems, notably landfilling in coastal wetland areas and groundwater extraction.”

  • “Local sea level in many regions will continue to rise in the 21st century — independent of global climate change. There are numerous reasons to think that projections of 21st century sea level rise from human-caused global warming are too high, and some of the worst-case scenarios strain credulity.”

Curry provided supplementary commentary to The Daily Caller, noting: “With regards to 21st century climate projections, we are dealing with deep uncertainty, and we should not be basing our policies based on the assumption that the climate will actually evolve as per predicted. Climate variability and change is a lot more complex than ‘CO2 as control knob.’ No one wants to hear this, or actually spend time understanding things.”

The only proof you need is demonstrated by the fact her report won’t appear in any mainstream media outlets.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.