Discussion of Natalya N. Warner, Philippe E. Tissot, Storm flooding sensitivity to sea level rise for Galveston Bay, Texas, Ocean Engineering 44 (2012), 23-32
- Authors: Boretti, Alberto
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ocean Engineering Vol. 55, no. (2012), p. 235-237
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Discussion of Natalya N. Warner, Philippe E. Tissot, Storm flooding sensitivity to sea level rise for Galveston Bay, Texas, Ocean Engineering 44 (2012), 23-32
Oscillations of sea level rise along the Atlantic coast of North America north of Cape Hatteras
- Authors: Parker, Albert
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Natural Hazards Vol. 65, no. 1 (2013), p. 991-997
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: It is shown in the short comment that the sea levels are oscillating about a longer-term trend and that the sea level rise (SLR) computed with time windows of 20, 30 or 60 years also oscillates, with the amplitude of these latter oscillations reducing as the time window increases. The use of only two values of the SLR distribution is misleading to infer conclusions about the accelerating behaviour. In particular, the comparison of the 30-year SLR 1950-1979 with the 30-year SLR 1980-2009 for the tide gauges along the Atlantic coast of North America north of Cape Hatteras to infer an accelerating behaviour is particularly wrong because the 30-year time window is a too short interval to appreciate the longer-term sea level trend cleared of the multi-decadal oscillations, and the two values from the SLR distribution are computed, respectively, at the times of a valley and a peak for the 60-year Atlantic Ocean multi-decadal oscillation. By using a 60-year time window or all the data since opening when more than 60 years of recording are available and by analysing the SLR time history, the only conclusion that can be inferred from the analysis of the tide gauges along the North American Atlantic coast is that the sea levels are oscillating without too much of a positive acceleration along their longer-term trend. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
- Description: 2003010586
Sea-level trend analysis for coastal management
- Authors: Parker, Albert , Saad Saleem, Muhammad , Lawson, M.
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ocean and Coastal Management Vol. 73, no. (2013), p. 63-81
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: A proper coastal management requires an accurate estimation of sea level trends locally and globally. It is claimed that the sea levels are rising following an exponential growth since the 1990s, and because of that coastal communities are facing huge challenges. Many local governments throughout Australia, including those on the coast, have responded to the various warnings about changes in climate and increases in sea levels by undertaking detailed climate change risk management exercises. These exercises, which use projections passed on by the relevant state bodies, are expensive, but still a fraction of the cost of the capital works that they recommend. Several councils have complained to an Australian Productivity Commission report on climate change adaptation they do not have the money for the capital works required. It is shown here that the exponential growth claim is not supported by any measurement of enough length and quality when properly analysed. The tide gauge results do not support the exponential growth theory. The projections by the relevant state bodies should therefore be revised by considering the measurements and not the models to compute the future sea level rises for the next 30 years following the same trend experienced over the last 30 years. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
Short term comparison of climate model predictions and satellite altimeter measurements of sea levels
- Authors: Boretti, Alberto
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Coastal Engineering Vol.60, no. (2011), p.319-322
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Climate models (http://climatecommission.govspace.gov.au/files/2011/05/4108-CC-Science-Update-PRINT-CHANGES.pdf, 2011; http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessment_report_synthesis_report.htm, 2011; Rahmstorf, 2007, 2010) calculate that temperatures are increasing globally and sea level rises are increasing due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. More recent predictions (http://climatecommission.govspace.gov.au/files/2011/05/4108-CC-Science-Update-PRINT-CHANGES.pdf, 2011; Rahmstorf, 2007, 2010) have forecasted that sea level rises by 2100 will be higher than the 2007 projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessment_report_synthesis_report.htm, 2011), with projected sea level rises increasing from 18-59 cm to 100 cm. In this brief communication, the predictions of Rahmstorf (2007) are validated against the experimental evidence over a 20 year period. The University of Colorado Sea Level satellite monitoring shows that the rate of rise of the sea level is not only well below the values computed in http://climatecommission.govspace.gov.au/files/2011/05/4108-CC-Science-Update-PRINT-CHANGES.pdf (2011) and Rahmstorf (2007, 2010), but actually reducing rather than increasing (http://sealevel.colorado.edu/, 2011b; 10,11). These results suggest that sea level predictions based solely on the presumed temperature evolution may fail to accurately predict the long term sea levels at the end of the century. © 2011.
Sea level trends at locations of the United States with more than 100 years of recording
- Authors: Parker, Albert
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Natural Hazards Vol. 65, no. 1 (2013), p. 1011-1021
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The paper presents the sea level rises (SLR) computed for the United States tide gauges with more than 100 years of recording. It is shown that the monthly sea levels oscillate about an almost linear longer-term trend with important multidecadal periodicities. The SLR time history is computed by linear fitting of 20, 30 and 60 years of data up to a given time (SLR20, SLR30 and SLR60) and is compared to the value obtained by considering all the data. It is shown that SLR60 has smaller oscillations, while SLR20 and SLR30 have much larger and frequent fluctuations. While SLR60 may oscillate ±10-30 % about the latest longer-term value, SLR30 may fluctuate ±50-100 % and SLR20 ± 100-200 %. The values obtained by considering all the data with a minimum of 60 years (SLRA) also fluctuate ±5-15 % about the latest longer-term value. This indicates the need to use the time history of SLR60 or SLRA when the record is longer than 60 years to assess the accelerating trend. For all the stations, the sea levels regularly oscillate about the linear longer-term trend, and if acceleration has to be computed, this is eventually negative, that is, the SLR is reducing. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
- Description: 2003010587
Climate change scenarios and projections for the pacific
- Authors: Chand, Savin
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Springer Climate 3 p. 171-199
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Small island countries in the Pacific have characteristics which enhance their vulnerability and reduce their resilience to the effects of climate change, sea-level rise and extreme events. Over the past decade, a number of studies have been undertaken to improve our understanding of climate variability and change in the Pacific. This chapter provides an overview of those studies and discusses possible challenges associated with climate model projections for the small island countries in the Pacific. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.
Seawater causes rapid trace metal mobilisation in coastal lowland acid sulfate soils : Implications of sea level rise for water quality
- Authors: Wong, Vanessa , Johnston, Scott , Burton, Edward , Bush, Richard , Sullivan, Leigh , Slavich, Peter
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Geoderma Vol. 160, no. 2 (2010), p. 252-263
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Coastal floodplains are highly vulnerable to inundation with saline water and the likelihood of inundation will increase with sea level rise. Sediment samples from floodplains containing coastal lowland acid sulfate soils (CLASS) in eastern Australia were subjected to increasing seawater concentration to examine the probable effects of sea level rise on acidity and metal desorption. Ten soils were mixed with synthetic seawater concentrations varying from 0% to 100% at a solid:solution ratio of 1:10 for 4h. There was a slight decrease in pH (≈0.5 units) with increasing seawater concentration following treatment, yet, calculated acidity increased significantly. In most soil treatments, Al was the dominant component of the calculated acidity pool. Al dominated the exchange complex in the CLASS and, correspondingly, was the major metal ion desorbed. In general, concentrations of soluble and exchangeable Al, Fe2+, Ni, Mn and Zn in all soil extracts increased with increasing salinity. Increasing trace metal concentrations with increasing seawater concentration is attributed to the combined effects of exchange processes and acidity. The increasing ionic strength of the seawater treatments displaces trace metals and protons adsorbed on sediments, causing an initial decrease in pH. Hydrolysis of desorbed acidic metal cations can further contribute to acidity and increase mobilisation of trace metals. These findings imply that saline inundation of CLASS environments, even by relatively brackish water may cause rapid, shorter-term water quality changes and a pulse release of acidity due to desorption of acidic metal cations. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.