Time and Tide

This is a science book. There has been a spate of papers in the last several years analyzing sea level data (including tide gauge records) to look for acceleration, or its absence, or deceleration, or changes in acceleration … all in the vain hope that if one can show that sea level didn’t accelerate consistently throughout the 20th century then there’s no reason to believe it will accelerate in the 21st century (an idea which reveals complete ignorance of how qualified scientists estimate future sea level rise). Most such papers don’t say so explicitly, but the implication is dripping from their writings. And at least one of them did say so explicity — our old friend Dave Burton.