By Dr. Peter P. Neilley Photo: M. Bossman , Massachusetts office of Tourism
The phrases “climate change” and “sea level rise” nearly go hand in hand, particularly when discussed in coastal communities like Martha’s Vineyard. Many of the cliché images of global warming often involve the seas, whether it be a polar bear stranded on a melting iceberg or dramatic artistic depictions of seas consuming cities. There is quite a bit of misunderstanding and misinformation on how, how much, and how fast the seas will rise as our climate warms. Many people don’t have a great sense of how much the seas will rise in the future and if you ask around, you often can get wildly different answers or no answers at all. Contributing to this confusion is the fact that the future rate of climate change is somewhat uncertain mostly due to the uncertainty in how much society acts now to reduce future carbon emissions.