How does rising atmospheric CO2 affect marine organisms?

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UN Information Sheet 11: Sea levels, oceans, and coastal areas
This information sheet highlights a number of negative consequences that might occur if the planet's mean sea level were to rise significantly over the next century or so.  Such subjects are always worth considering; but it is the potential ability of the atmosphere's rising CO2 concentration to influence sea level that gives these subjects their notoriety.

Going to the heart of this question, Point 1 of the information sheet states that the global average sea level has risen by 10 to 25 cm over the past 100 years and opines that "it is likely that much of this rise is related to an increase of 0.3 to 0.6°C in the lower atmosphere's global average temperature since 1860."  We can live with this statement if "much" is replaced by "some."  However, it is worth noting that archaeological and geologic data suggest that global sea levels have probably fluctuated no more than a few tens of centimeters over the past two thousand years (Hofstede, 1991; Tanner, 1992; Varekamp et al., 1992; Flemming, 1993); and there have been much larger temperature changes over this period than the modest warming of the last 140 years.  Hence, we find it difficult to believe that sea levels will rise another 15 to 95 cm over the next century, as predicted by the models in Point 2, especially since major changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet are considered unlikely in the coming century.


References

Flemming, N.C.  1993.  Predictions of relative coastal sea level change in the Mediterranean based on archaeological, historical and tide-gauge data.  In: L. Jeftic, J.D. Milliman and G. Sestini (Eds.), Climatic Change and the Mediterranean. Edward Arnold, London, UK, pp. 247-281.

Hofstede, J.L.A.  1991.  Sea level rise in the inner German Bight (Germany) since AD 600 and its implications upon tidal flats geomorphology.  In: H. Bruckner and U. Radtke (Eds.), Von der Nordsee bis zum Indischen Ozean.  Franz Steiner, Stuttgart, Germany, pp. 11-27.

Tanner W.F. 1992.  3000 years of sea level change.  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 73: 297-303.

Varekamp, J.C., Thomas, E. and Van de Plassche, O.  1992.  Relative sea level rise and climate change over the last 1500 years.  Terra Nova 4: 293-304.

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