Discussion of a semi-empirical approach to projecting future sea-level rise

Abstract

Popular semi empirical formulae link the rate of rise of sea level to the global land and sea surface temperature. The physical and mathematical incongruences of these formulations are discusses in the paper. It is shown that the rate of rise of sea levels due to thermal expansion is actually proportional to the time rate of change of the average temperature of the oceans. It is also shown that since the start of the ARGO project in the early 2000s, the temperature and salinity 0 to 2000 metres depth have not changed at all. This result, plus the stable global surface air temperatures and stable sea ice extent for the North and South Poles from the satellite, all suggest that since the early 2000s there has been no sea level rise due to the warming of the oceans or the melting of ices.