Leading Atmospheric Scientist: Earth Was Warmer and Seas Higher 125,000 Years Ago

February 19th, 2007 4:13 PM

One of the leading atmospheric scientists in the country made some statements at a conference going on in San Francisco that will almost certainly get no media attention.

As reported by C/Net News.com (emphasis mine throughout):

Approximately 125,000 years ago, the Earth was around three to five degrees Celsius warmer on average than it is today and sea levels were four to six meters higher. The ice sheets covering Greenland's land mass have trapped a significant amount of that water that used to be in the sea, thereby lowering sea levels, Susan Solomon, senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (and the co-chair of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) told attendees at the American Association for the Advancement of Science taking place in San Francisco.

Shocking coming from a co-chair of the recent IPCC report, wouldn’t you say? But that’s just the beginning:

If the land ice on Greenland were to melt completely, the sea levels could rise six or seven meters again, but the current scientific models indicate it will take thousands of years. Both land and sea ice around Greenland are currently melting. (Sea ice is also melting, but it doesn't raise sea levels because it's already in the water.)

Are you listening Dr. Gore?

"It would take centuries, if not millennia, to get a four to six meter rise" in sea levels, she said. Global temperatures would have to be raised by 1.9 to 4.6 degrees Celsius and be kept that way for several centuries, she added.

So much for the imminent cataclysm being forecast by alarmists in the media, Democrats, and a former vice president. Of course, her assertions are somewhat irrelevant given the likelihood that no major media outlet will report them.

This raises an interesting question: If a scientist says something the media don't agree with, does he or she make a sound?