The Water, the Coast, the Future

Abstract

The trouble with water on Earth is that it doesn’t stay put. At any one instant a droplet may be in the sky, in the ocean, frozen in a glacier, or in and among the lands. That dynamic system is reviewed in this essay, following droplets and following the accumulation of droplets that pins the totality of the waters, measured as sea level, at times and places throughout Earth’s history, through the lenses of our researchers. The message is that the Earth’s methods and responses follow the laws of science and geology, and we can expect Earth to follow the same methods and responses as the climate warms in coming years. Sea level imprints tell us what happened before, and what happens now will determine the sea level imprints of the future.