New Research Global warming doubles rate of ocean rise from 150 years ago Archived article from Jan 23, 2006 By Carl Blesch   Global ocean levels are rising twice as fast today as they were 150 years ago and human-induced warming appears to be the culprit, say Rutgers scientists. While the speed at which the ocean is rising – almost 2 millimeters a year today compared with 1 millimeter annually for the past several thousand years – may not be fodder for the next disaster movie, it affirms scientific concerns of accelerated global warming. In a Nov. 25 article in the journal Science, Kenneth G. Miller, professor of geological sciences in New Brunswick/Piscataway, reports on a new record of sea level change during the past 100 million years based on drilling studies along the New Jersey coast. The findings establish a steady millimeter-per-year rise from 5,000 years ago until about 200 years ago. They also imply lower sea floor spreading rates 100 million years ago than scientists had widely assumed and suggest there were small but short-lived ice sheets even during the earth’s warmer eras, such as the most recent age of dinosaurs. Return to the Jan 23, 2006 issue

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