Rebutting a Trump report, study shows U.S. sea-level rise is accelerating

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By Brady Dennis. The Washington Post. 

Excerpt: The rate of sea-level rise along U.S. coastlines has more than doubled over the past 125 years, according to a new analysis that examined data from scores of tide gauges from around the country. The findings stand in contrast to a wide-ranging, widely criticized assessment of climate science that the Trump administration released this summer. Chris Piecuch, a sea-level scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said he undertook his analysis in response to that Energy Department report, whichhe and others argue uses cherry-picked data to conclude that “U.S. tide gauge measurements reveal no obvious acceleration beyond the historical average rate of sea-level rise.” ...That assessment also underscores that some places, such as the Pacific Coast, have experienced little sea-level rise compared with places such as the gulf coast. Some spots in Alaska have even seen an overall decrease as sea-level rise is outpaced by a phenomenon known as “glacial rebound,” where the land lifts as glaciers recede. ...A group of 85 scientists who issued a joint rebuttal to the administration’s climate science report this summer agreed. They cited what they called a series of errors and misrepresentations, labeling its conclusions “a vibes-based assessment of sea-level acceleration” that “performs no statistical analysis” and fails to consider the economic impacts already occurring.... 

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