What is the Potential for Future Sea-Level Changes?
In any discussion of rapid changes of climate and sea-level, the ultimate question is: what can we predict for the future? Reliable predictions for future change must be built on a scientifically defendable basis. There are several approaches. One approach is to conduct computer model studies, based on the best available information on climate, glacial, and ocean processes. We discuss such a model above, for antarctic glaciers. Other models include global climate studies. These models use national supercomputer facilities and immense sets of data from around the world. Several of our colleagues at the University of Maine are involved in this modeling. Global climate models provide predictions of warming and precipitation changes under future scenarios of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Figure 11 depicts a prediction of future sea-level change based on a global climate modeling by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Depending on the rate of input of carbon dioxide, pre
