With the recent climate convention in Paris, we’ve been hearing a lot about “unprecedented” sea level rise, ostensibly caused by humans.
However, the fact is that sea levels have stood much higher than today, in the not-so-distant past.
First, some background.
Last May, my wife and I traveled to Paris where I met with a French publisher. After the meeting (and the obligatory museum hopping) we rented a car and headed south to Provence. Lots of food. Lots of photos. Lots of history. Lots of great memories.
Now fast forward to December.
We like to send out a Christmas letter each year. So this year, we wanted to mention how much we had enjoyed Orange and the surrounding area.
To make sure we had our facts straight, we decided to brush up on what we had seen. We checked our notes, checked the brochures we’d picked up, and just to be sure, did some online searches.
During one such search, I discovered a gem of information that devastates the “humans-are-causing-unprecedented- sea-level-rise” claims.
Dramatic changes in sea level with no help from humans
It turns out that Provence endured great changes in climate during the Paleolithic period. Those changes included the arrival and departure of at least two ice ages, along with “dramatic” changes in sea level.
How dramatic?
At the beginning of the Paleolithic period, the sea level in western Provence stood 150 meters (492 ft) higher – higher! – than today, according to Wikipedia. That’s about the height of a 50-story building.
By the end of the Paleolithic, the sea level had dropped 100 to 150 meters (328 to 492 ft) lower than today. A difference of almost a fifth of a mile … with no help from humans.
Some archaeologists argue that the Paleolithic began as early 2.6 million years ago and lasted until 10,000 B.C. Others say it started about 750,000 B.C and ended around 8,500 B.C.
Regardless of which dates you choose, it should be abundantly obvious that humans had nothing to do with those wildly fluctuating sea-levels.
A regular occurrence
In fact, cave dwellings of early inhabitants of Provence were regularly inundated by rising seas. Sometimes those dwellings were swept away by erosion, other times they were left stranded far from the coast.
Evidence of those dramatic sea-level changes surfaced in 1985 when diver Henri Cosquer discovered the mouth of a submarine cave 37 meters (121 ft) below the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou, a little east of Marseille. (A calanque is a natural sheltered inlet. The term Les Calanques indicates a series of such inlets.)
That submarine entrance led to a cave situated above sea level. The walls of that cave, the Cosquer Cave (named after its discoverer), are decorated with drawings of bison, seals, auks and horses dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC. The drawings also include outlines of human hands.
Why were sea levels so much lower back then? Because at that time our planet was in the midst of an ice age, and large volumes of water were locked up on land as ice. (Again, a phenomenon certainly not caused by we dastardly humans.)
Once the ice age ended, sea levels began rising again … and still continue rising today.
With all of those naturally occurring changes in sea level, who has the right to say which level is the correct level?
Fluctuations in sea level are normal
Besides, no matter how much someone tries to tell you otherwise, fluctuations in sea level are normal.
Unfortunately, if we’re headed into an ice age (as I believe), sea levels will soon begin falling again.
Sea levels have fallen in two of the last five years
Actually, I think the process has already begun. The mainstream media may not want you to know it, but sea levels have fallen in two of the last five years.
Yes, sea levels have declined! Sea levels declined 6 mm (¼ inch) in 2010, and declined another 7 mm in 2011.
All of this talk of unprecedented sea-level rise caused by humans is just simply not true … and Provence provides the evidence.
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P.S. In case you’re wondering what happened at my meeting with the French publisher, I’m happy to report that we signed a contract. They’re translating Not by Fire but by Ice into French right now, and aim to go to print by the end of the year.
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