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...reason for the higher estimate is simply that scientists had more data to work with. Most studies of ancient sea level focus on a specific area of the globe. But local sea levels, then and now, do not give a true picture of the global average sea level, which is what really matters. Lots of factors can affect regional sea-level variability, including winds and local currents that push water consistently toward or away from a particular shore. "One of the biggest effects," says the study's lead author, Robert Kopp, who did his research during a postdoctoral fellowship...
...rise in sea level would be truly catastrophic if it happened by the end of this century. But there is no suggestion in the study that the rise is imminent. "We can only give a thousand-year average," says Kopp, meaning that it might well take a millennium for sea level to go up that much. The rise would be inevitable, though: even if we cut back emissions today, concentrations of greenhouse gases will continue to increase, albeit more slowly. As a result, if temperatures go up by as much...
...there's no guarantee that the rise in sea level would necessarily be smooth. If ice sheets begin sliding into the sea faster than they have in the recent past - as they seem to be doing already - sea level could go up more quickly than average, reaching a catastrophic point relatively early, then staying there. "From our analysis," says Kopp, "we really can't know how long it would take." In short, the science is still uncertain - but less so than before, and moving in a direction that isn't reassuring...
Columbia University's 2009 financial statement notes that the school has racked up a total of $1.39 billion in debt—a level that could imperil the University's AAA credit rating if it climbs much higher, according to Columbia President Lee Bollinger...
...idea and when the column was due. Which is how I decided on the Google guys, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They have a publicist who returns e-mails. And if I've learned one thing these past 10 years, it's that without the help of a high-level exec at their company, there's nothing a man can do to stop his No. 1 Google image from being a high school photo of himself at the Jersey Shore with a mullet down to his butt. (See the best pictures...