OT of an OT: Ethanol

[geoschmo]

I don't know how accurate that particular model is. The fact is the south pole ice cheet is smaller now then it was a hundred years ago when we started measuring that sort of thing. This correlates nicely with the rise in temperature we've already seen over that period of time. Of course maybe that's just a short term cycle and not the beginning of a long term warming trend. It would be nice to think that the planet had all these nifty backup systems that would cancel out the effects over time, but that's just wishful thinking really.

The geological record clearly shows that the oceans were lower in the past. Perhaps as many as 300 meters lower during the most recent ice age that ended about 40,000 years ago. There is no reason to think that the current sea level that we've enjoyed for the last 3,000 years or so is special. The earth doesn't care that we've built our cities along the current coastlines.