SEA LEVEL CHANGES FROM THE I TO THE XIII CENTURIES AND THEIR CLIMATOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Abstract

Correlation between archaeological ruins and geological observations show that the region of the port city of Caesarea in central Israel has been stable during the last 2000 years. This stability, and the low range of the diurnal tidal variations of sea level, attributes global climatic significance to the reconstructions of various sea levels during several clear archaeological time-frames. It seems that while 2000 years ago sea level, and therefore also climate, was similar to the present one. Sea level was higher in the VII–VIII Centuries AD, and the climate was probably warmer, and sea level was lower, and the climate colder, in the ХII–ХIII Centuries AD. Consequently it is suggested that the presumption that the present global climatic warming in anthropogenic requires strong supporting evidence. On the other hand, the link between recent heavy damages to coral reefs and the anthropogenic activities that caused the rise in atmospheric CO2 content seems quite likely.

Keywords

• sea level change
• active tectonics
• climate change