- Analysis of domestic resource requirements for international and 

 domestic programs; 



- Evaluation of the U.S. government COj program; and 



- Assessment of the need for periodic reports and a long-term assessment 

 program. 



This book is organized into two major parts that includes an overview or 

 synthesis representing the views of the committee as a whole on the issue and 

 a group of papers each addressing a specific topic or problem area on CO2. 

 (From Introduction.) 



241 NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. 1987. Responding to Changes in Sea-Level. 

 Engineering Implications , National Academy Press, Washington, DC, pp 148. 



This interdisciplinary study of the engineering implications of relative 

 mean sea- level change examines recent sea- level trends; projections of 

 continuing relative change; shoreline response; consequences for engineering 

 works and built facilities; methods for protecting structures from erosion and 

 flooding; and the need for new technologies for mitigation. To provide a 

 useful basis for sensitivity design calculations and policy decisions that 

 must take sea-level rise into account, the committee adopted three plausible 

 variations in eustatic sea-level rise to the year 2100, all displaying a 

 greater rate of rise in the distant future than in the next decade and all 

 with an increased rate of rise relative to the present: 50, 100, and 150 cm. 



Over the past century, worldwide sea-level has risen about 12 cm. In 

 many places along the U.S. shoreline, subsidence exceeds the eustatic 

 component by a factor of 2, and in Louisiana by a great factor of 10. In 

 higher latitudes, glacial rebound is much greater than the eustatic component 

 of sea-level rise and, in locations like Hudson Bay, Canada, and resulted in a 

 relative lowering of sea- level in excess of 130 cm/century. These substantial 

 differences must be considered in developing responses to a relative "change". 

 In regards to tide gage, the study concluded that (a) gages located either 

 inside or outside bays are subject to different influences that tend to 

 degrade the quality of the data; (2) with more distant locations inside the 

 bay gages contain a greater quantity of 'noise- that is not representative of 

 the outside mean sea-level; and (3) in the shore term (over several decades), 

 inside gages will underestimate rise taking place on the open coast. It is 

 recommended that the number of long-term, open-coast tide gages should be 

 increased with a special emphasis on the Southern Hemisphere. 



The committee concluded that the most appropriate present engineering 

 strategy is not to adopt one particular sea- level rise scenario, but instead 

 to be aware of the probability of increasing sea- level and to keep all 

 response options open. (Modified Executive Summary) . 



242 NEFTEL, A., MOOR, E., OESCHGER, H., and STAUFFER, B. 1985. "Evidence 

 From Polar Ice Cores For the Increase in Atmospheric CO2 in the Past Two 

 Centuries," Nature, Vol 315, pp 45-47. 



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