Unreasonable Forecasts and Concerns for Global Warming & Climate Change:
Sea Level Change: Why this should be so constantly put forward as a huge threat (when it simply isn't - as below) is unfathomable, especially when there are other tangible threats requiring immediate attention (eg: Drought). Key reasons why the sea level is unlikely to rise:
Statistics:
The ocean is said to be rising approximately 2 to 3mm per year. Over the next 50 years, this is just 6 inches (15cm) at worst. See Wikipedia . Claims of mass flooding, huge sea rises etc are simply headline grabbers - Eg:
BBC's "Earth - melting in the heat? Predictions vary from the catastrophic to the cataclysmic." ... "Sea levels may rise by many metres as a consequence" -- and -- "Greenland ice swells ocean rise" stating "If the Greenland ice sheet melted completely, it would raise global sea levels by about 7m" -- (which is true, but the earth would probably have to fall into the sun before it ever gets that hot).
Displacement: Both sea & land floats on magma. A heavier sea will sink and push up landmass:
The sea bed is a crust floating on the magma / lava earth core. In the unlikely event there is a large increase in sea-volume, as the sea mass increases, it will sink a little and there will be a corresponding displacement of magma raising the land surface accordingly. Land being approx 2.5x heavier than water, (see link), it will rise 2/5's the rate the ocean rises -- the resulting difference levels will be reduced, notwithstanding some larger localised changes are probable. See for further info: http://webspinners.com/dlblanc/tectonic/floating.php . This does not affect Statistics (above) but only affects calculations involving Ice Relocation.
Rain Relocation: Global warming will cause more rain as a natural side effect of evaporation. This will have a dual effect:
More land based rain will fill more chalk and other natural reservoirs, relocating water volume
More water trapped in snow etc at high levels and on the caps (as seen winter 2006/7).
More cloud thus shielding and stabilising the earth temperature.
Ice Relocation:
For those unaware, all the Northpole ice is floating as is much at the Southpole. When molten, floating ice will not increase the sea volume as ice shrinks as it melts.
Landlocked ice in extremely cold locations does not melt significantly within normal (current) temperature variations. The melt is unlikely to accelerate to the point where significant volumes of Landlocked ice shelves melt.
Note that warmest temp recorded in Antarctica was in 1974 and warmest day was in 1958.# *1 *2 . This does not tie in with continued assertions of increased warming.
It is acknowledged there would be a significant shift in frozen water from landmasses were a large temperature change to release significant volumes# *1 . However, the change in temperature would have to be so significant as to make life unbearable on earth anyway.
In a minor point, it is worth noting the Displacement of magma caused by the release of Land locked ice should have a neutral effect on sea levels. Were large areas of landlocked ice to melt, there should be a displacement caused by the reduced weight of the landmass allowing only the ice bearing landmass to rise floating on the magma. (The increased volume of the sea will still cause a further magma shift creating the Displacement discussed earlier).
Carbon Dioxide Overload: This concerns the obsession with CO2 gases at the expense of other issues (drought etc)..
Carbon Dioxide is naturally expunged by plant life which excels in increased levels of CO2 thereby redressing the balance.
CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere in vast quantities by volcanoes, exceeding anything man could generate #, and is anecdotal evidence of the planets ability to redress the balance.