Reply #10: Or it could set off the San Andreas...

[Baby Snooks]

The earth is very fragile. We keep messing with it believing we can control it. We have to finally learn how to let Nature take care of itself and with rare exception let Nature take what it is going to take.

I forget the geophysical term but water has weight and if you put that much more water in an area with a major fault, you mignt set off a horrific displacement along the fault. Lots of water might not be worth no more Los Angeles. Particularly lots of sea water.

The water itself would serve no purpose. It certainly wouldn't lower the sea level any. Which is inconsistent which few people realize. If the sea level were to rise five feet, that would not mean a five feet rise everywhere. It might be two feet in Miami. Seven feet in Tahiti.

We do have to plan. Some cities can be saved through levee systems. Some cannot. Suffice it to say that cities along our coasts, the ones that can be saved, will resemble New Orleans. Surrounded by water. And levee systems keeping the water out. Most of the coastal cities in California are actually well above sea level. But the beach areas are gone.

Malibu may not be such a good buy after all. And the sea level rise will be as inconsistent as the sea level itself. In areas like Malibu where homes are built on the beach, suddenly a high tide is going to bring in more water. And continue to bring in more water. Until there is nothing on the beach. And then suddenly there is no beach.

No one really knows how high the sea level will rise. Or how quickly.

There is conjecture that some of our recent hurricanes had higher than normal storm surges because of a slight sea level rise that simply hasn't been detected. Until the hurricane starts moving massive amounts of water towards land.

Lots they don't know. And, well, lots they don't tell us. They are, after all, the government. I definitely wouldn't buy the "by the end of the century" and definitely wouldn't buy any beach property anywhere.