From the University of Haifa via Eurekalert
The sea level has been rising and falling over the last 2,500 years
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  IMAGE: Rising and falling sea levels over relatively short periods do not indicate long-term trends. An assessment of hundreds and thousands of years shows that what seems an irregular phenomenon today…
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“Rising and falling sea levels over relatively short periods do not indicate long-term trends. An assessment of hundreds and thousands of years shows that what seems an irregular phenomenon today is in fact nothing new,” explains Dr. Dorit Sivan, who supervised the research.*
The sea level in Israel has been rising and falling over the past 2,500 years, with a one-meter difference between the highest and lowest levels, most of the time below the present-day level. This has been shown in a new study supervised by Dr. Dorit Sivan, Head of the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa. “Rises and falls in sea level over relatively short periods do not testify to a long-term trend. It is early yet to conclude from the short-term increases in sea level that this is a set course that will not take a change in direction,” explains Dr. Sivan.
The rising sea level is one of the phenomena that have most influence on humankind: the rising sea not only floods the littoral regions but also causes underground water salinization, flooded effluents, accelerated coastal destruction, and other damage.
According to Dr. Sivan, the changing sea level can be attributed to three main causes: the global cause – the volume of water in the ocean, which mirrors the mass of ice sheets and is related to global warming or cooling; the regional cause – vertical movement of the earth’s surface, which is usually related to the pressure placed on the surface by the ice; and the local cause – vertical tectonic activity. Seeing as Israel is not close to former ice caps and the tectonic activity along the Mediterranean coast is negligible over these periods, it can be concluded that drastic changes in Israel’s sea levels are mainly related to changes in the volume of water.
In the present study, in light of earlier studies, research student Ayelet Toker and Dr. Sivan, set out to examine Israel’s sea level over the past 2,500 years, based on data deduced from many coastal archaeological findings. They made a careful selection of findings that have been reliably and accurately dated, and first focused on findings that were excavated by the Antiquities Authority in Acre of the Crusader period. These revealed that the sea level during the Crusader period – just 800 years ago – was some 50-90 centimeters lower than the present sea level. Findings from the same period at Caesarea and Atlit reinforced this conclusion. When additional sites were examined from periods before and after the Crusader period, it was revealed that there have been significant fluctuations in sea level: During the Hellenistic period, the sea level was about 1.6 meters lower than its present level; during the Roman era the level was almost similar to today’s; the level began to drop again during the ancient Muslim period, and continued dropping to reach the same level as it was during the Crusader period; but within about 500 years it rose again, and reached some 25 centimeters lower than today’s level at the beginning of the 18th century.
“Over the past century, we have witnessed the sea level in Israel fluctuating with almost 19 centimeters between the highest and lowest levels. Over the past 50 years Israel’s mean sea level rise is 5.5 centimeters, but there have also been periods when it rose by 10 centimeters over 10 years. That said, even acute ups and downs over short periods do not testify to long-term trends. An observation of the sea levels over hundreds and thousands of years shows that what seems a phenomenon today is as a matter of fact “nothing new under the sun”, Dr. Sivan concludes.
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Surprise, surprise!
Earth’s climate has changed in the past, is changing now, and it will change in the future – quite independently of CO2.
With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
Emeritus Professor of
Nuclear & Space Sciences
Former NASA PI for Apollo
aaaaaayup
Speaking of Israeli research. Here is another one fromt he Weizman Institute:
We have just received an exciting press release from the Institute entitled “Cooling Forests can Heat Too”.
In the attached article, Professor Dan Yakir and colleagues have demonstrated that, contrary to our simplistic notion that “more trees equals less CO2 and global warming”
the opposite might actually be true; particularly in certain regions. They have shown that heat generated by this biomass may counteract the benefit of CO2 reduction,
at least in the immediate term. This is an important demonstration of how basic research enables us to better define solutions for global issues.
This research discovery was made in the semi-arid Yatir Forest, a pine forest at the edge of the Negev Desert, where Weizmann scientists have been operating a research
station for the past ten years.
India establishing its own climate change “panel”:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7157590/India-forms-new-climate-change-body.html
“Seeing as Israel is not close to former ice caps and the tectonic activity along the Mediterranean coast is negligible over these periods, it can be concluded that drastic changes in Israel’s sea levels are mainly related to changes in the volume of water.”
Given that the entire Mediterranean sea has dried up completely at least twice and perhaps event three times in the past the as the Strait of Gibraltar opened and closed, that comment about the “negligible” “tectonic activity” could be a bit of confirmation bias. These drying periods have been proven by drilling and retrieving core samples, including thick salt pan layers, from under the deepest parts of Mediterranean Sea.
The flow of water from the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea is hundreds, if not thousands of times greater then the flow of Niagara Falls. It would not take a massive change in the Strait of Gibraltar to restrict the flow into the Mediterranean to allow the level to drop through evaporation.
The Caspian sea is also an intresting thing to study when it comes sea-level changes, because it is landlocked it has its own history of level changes, and they can be quit dramatic. In the last century levels dropped by 3 meters during the years 1920-1977, since then it has risen again by 3 meters
“Over the centuries, Caspian Sea levels have changed in synchronicity with the estimated discharge of the Volga, which in turn depends on rainfall levels in its vast catchment basin. Precipitation is related to variations in the amount of North Atlantic depressions that reach the interior, and they in turn are affected by cycles of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Thus levels in the Caspian sea relate to atmospheric conditions in the North Atlantic thousands of miles to the north and west.”
Breaking News
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/04/climate-change-email-hacking-leaks
Way off topic here, sorry. The Bohai and Liaodong bays in the Bohai sea have been frozen for a month now. They can be seen in the NSIDC daily image shown as open sea. I don’t think they should omit them just because they freeze so rarely.
http://i50.tinypic.com/14mrtk2.jpg
One piece of information that led police to question Dennis was the discovery of emails between him and Stephen McIntyre, who runs a sceptic blog in Toronto called Climate Audit. Climate Audit was the first to receive an anonymous link to the leaked data. Dennis subsequently emailed McIntyre to alert him to a Norwich University message confirming that a leak had occurred.
The scientist also had contact with Patrick Condon, an aeronautical engineer in Morris, Illinois, who runs a similar maths-oriented sceptic blog called Air Vent, and criticises “leftists” who promote global warming theories.
A third blogger with whom Dennis has posted is Anthony Watts, a weatherman for a California radio station who is involved in a sometimes vituperative sceptic blog called Watts Up with That. He has had a book published by the Heartland Institute, a denialist organisation which until 2006, received funding from ExxonMobil.
All three American bloggers, McIntyre, Condon and Watts, were initially sent links to the cache of CRU leaked material, via anonymous servers, on the same day, Tuesday 17 November.
McIntyre then received a message from Dennis in Norwich. According to files obtained by police, he wrote: “Hi Steve, Yesterday we received the following email, sent to all staff in environmental sciences and the climatic research unit. I have no idea what stuff was collected or where it was posted, but interesting nonetheless!”…
Hmmm, interesting… love this story.
They label us as vituperative…
Interesting…
considering what they call anyone who does not agree with them.
Jack In Oregon
it can be concluded that drastic changes in Israel’s sea levels are mainly related to changes in the volume of water.
This is a bit ambiguous. Why does the volume of water in the Mediterranean vary. That it does is not an explanation. Precipitation in the source regions and subsequent runoff to the Sea might help explain the volume therein – along with evaporation from the surface. Someone must have published on this topic. Maybe the full report of Sivan & Toker includes relevant information on why the volume changes or perhaps a call for additional funding to study precipitation in Switzerland and the Central African mountains. I’ll go along for standard daily rates.
Hmmmm….getting confused now…
The next one will either be called NetherGate;
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/sea-level-blunder-enrages-dutch-minister
Or it will be called MaldiveGate…..;
http://www.climatechangefacts.info/ClimateChangeDocuments/NilsAxelMornerinterview.pdf
John F. Hultquist (22:45:42) :
The inflow from all the rivers into the Mediterranean is insignificant compared to the inflow from the Atlantic. If the straight of Gibraltar was to stay open and all of the rivers dried up, the level would remain the same. The level of the Mediterranean is driven by Atlantic inflow and evaporation, the feeding rivers are not necessary.
OT
Apparently Michael Mann is innocent?
A prominent US climate scientist at the centre of the “climategate” leaked email controversy has been virtually cleared of professional misconduct by an internal university inquiry.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18474-us-climategate-scientist-all-but-cleared-of-misconduct.html
Fresh piece from The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/05/climate-change-hacked-emails
The Israeli sea level story would be much more easily grasped if graphics accompany there. Like this one, showing the sea level trend for 1906-2008 around Japan:
http://www.data.kishou.go.jp/shindan/a_1/sl_trend/sl_trend.html
Sorry for being the third time I post this.
IPCC:
“Senior officials running UN-led talks in India have insisted climate change science remains very persuasive despite the emergence of recent serious errors.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8499702.stm
Chinese not so sure: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-02/03/content_9418037.htm
incontrovertible>deep and extensive>robust>very persuasive>________?
OT somewhat but :
NIWA Unable To Justify Official Temperature Record
Monday, 1 February 2010, 4:02 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Climate Science Coalition
NIWA Unable To Justify Official Temperature Record
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has been urged by the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition (NZCSC) to abandon all of its in-house adjustments to temperature records. This follows an admission by NIWA that it no longer holds the records that would support its in-house manipulation of official temperature readings.
In December, NZCSC issued a formal request for the schedule of adjustments under the Official Information Act 1982, specifically seeking copies of “the original worksheets and/or computer records used for the calculations”. On 29 January, NIWA responded that they no longer held any internal records, and merely referred to the scientific literature.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1002/S00004.htm
vi·tu·per·a·tive (v-tpr–tv, -ty-, -p-r-, v-)
adj.
Using, containing, or marked by harshly abusive censure.
——————————————————————————–
Anthony the Guardian dosn’t seem to like you very much !!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/04/climate-change-email-hacking-leaks
A third blogger with whom Dennis has posted is Anthony Watts, a weatherman for a California radio station who is involved in a sometimes vituperative sceptic blog called Watts Up with That. He has had a book published by the Heartland Institute, a denialist organisation which until 2006, received funding from ExxonMobil.
not only a sceptic but much worse a vituperitive one at that. I had to look up the definition to check “scathing: marked by harshly abusive criticism”
Anthony you have been a naughty boy, how dare you question real climate scientists and have the efrontery to want to replicate their work.
Interesting stuff.
I’d imagine that those with a substantial incentive to ignore this (e.g. The ‘small island states’ who are due to receive billions in foreign aid) will systematically ignore this or claim bias.
There seems to be a wilfull desire to pretend that the climatic changes of the past (sea-level, MWP, etc) don’t really count or somehow didn’t happen, forgetting that our ‘past’ was their present-day.
Very off topic, but do I sense a very sceptical viewpoint from the comments in this Guardian article?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/04/climate-change-email-hacking-leaks
I am thinking that the “believe temperature” ( to quote Tyndall’s Orwellian Working paper wp58.pdf) is taking a fairly sharp drop?
Andrew30 (23:06:15) :
The inflow from all the rivers into the Mediterranean is insignificant compared to the inflow from the Atlantic. If the straight of Gibraltar was to stay open and all of the rivers dried up, the level would remain the same. The level of the Mediterranean is driven by Atlantic inflow and evaporation, the feeding rivers are not necessary.
Given that there’s 20 odd miles between the Pillars of Hercules this make sense. It reminds me of something my grandfather told me – he was stationed in North Africa during WW2, and had heard a story that Hitler had a long term plan to drain the Mediterranean by daming the Strait of Gibralter. Have no idea if it was true, or if it could be done. (But don’t think the elites in Monaco would be very pleased if the plan was resurrected). The haves and have yachts.
The sea levels will decrease because the antarctic sea ice extent is at an all time high!
http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images//daily_images/S_timeseries.png
I think to rule out tectonics as a cause for sea level change in this region is a mistake. The area sits close to plate margins and there are many earthquakes in the Eastern Med as a result.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/israel/seismicity.php