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| Higgs Boson Blues |
I. Background
In the previous post of this series a simulation displayed various outcomes in terms of thermal expansion.
The simulation was based on maximum and minimum temperatures for the world oceans that are listed in the World Ocean Database (WOD) Manual.
In today's post actual in situ measurements from the same oceans are used instead of the simulations.
The measurements are not processed exactly like the averages "(max + min ÷ 2)" of the WOD Manual temperatures were in the previous post of this series, they are processed just as they were measured (On Thermal Expansion & Thermal Contraction - 43).
The difference in the graphs of all oceans is due to the fact that ~93% of the heat from the Sun that is not radiated back into space ends up in the ocean.
Thus, the GISTEMP anomaly data which applies to the atmosphere is only ~7% of the total global heating action.
The ocean is warming more than the atmosphere, so it is normal to expect an impact of the sort shown on the "Thermosteric SLC" graphs in the two posts.
II. In Situ Results
The in situ temperature HTML data and the graphs show that the ocean heat content is above the median depicted by the "(max + min ÷ 2)" figures in the "On Thermal Expansion & Thermal Contraction - 43" presentations.
This reality, however, does not redeem the "thermal expansion is the main cause of sea level rise" hypothesis.
No, once again, simulation or not, the HTML appendices and the graph appendices to today's post once again confirm my argument that "thermal expansion is NOT the main cause of sea level rise" over the past century.
Check out the in situ data appendices:
| Ocean Area | Html Tables | Graphed Values |
| Atlantic | Appendix A1 | Appendix A2 |
| Pacific | Appendix B1 | Appendix B2 |
| Polar | Appendix C1 | Appendix C2 |
| Equatorial | Appendix D1 | Appendix D2 |
| Indian | Appendix E1 | Appendix E2 |
The cumulative totals for each ocean area's in situ measurements are as follows:
| Ocean | SLC (mm) |
| North Atlantic | 4.52489 |
| Equatorial Atlantic | 0.840493 |
| South Atlantic | 1.2491 |
| North Pacific | 3.06685 |
| Equatorial Pacific | 6.4686 |
| South Pacific | 5.02795 |
| North Indian | 0.563049 |
| Equatorial Indian | 8.16361 |
| South Indian | 6.30896 |
| Southern | 1.98366 |
| Arctic | 0.487493 |
| Average (11 oceans) | 3.51679 |
| Total (11 oceans) | 38.6847 |
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| Graph of (in situ) Thermal Expansion |
Compare this thermosteric SLC graph with graphs of total SLC around the globe:
Countries With Sea Level Change, 2, 3
Seaports With Sea Level Change, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
III. The Reality
The melting of the Cryosphere (both above and below sea level) is the main cause of sea level change.
Sea level rise is caused mostly by tidewater glacier melt under the ocean's surface at or near the grounding lines.
This is taking place in Greenland and in Antarctica big time, even as we 'speak'.
For review and confirmation:
Hot, Warm, & Cold Thermal Facts: Tidewater-Glaciers, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
In Pursuit of Plume Theory, 2, 3, 4
Antarctica 2.0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 [& supplements A, B, C, D, E, F], 7
Mysterious Zones of Antarctica, 2, 3, 4
Mysterious Zones of The Arctic, 2, 3
Greenland 2.0, 2
(there are more series posts in the series posts tabs at the top of the page)
IV. Closing Comments
Dredd Blog uses the TEOS-10 toolkit's gsw_alpha function to calculate the thermal expansion coefficient:
"This site [teos-10.org] is the official source of information about the Thermodynamic Equation Of Seawater - 2010 (TEOS-10), and the way in which it should be used.Of the gsw_alpha function, that official source says:
TEOS-10 is based on a Gibbs function formulation from which all thermodynamic properties of seawater (density, enthalpy, entropy sound speed, etc.) can be derived in a thermodynamically consistent manner. TEOS-10 was adopted by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission at its 25th Assembly in June 2009 to replace EOS-80 as the official description of seawater and ice properties in marine science."
"Hence we may take the thermal expansion coefficient [a0] evaluated [from] gsw_alpha(SA,CT,p) as essentially reflecting the full accuracy of TEOS‐10."(Notes on gsw_alpha, PDF). It's enough to give a person the Higgs Boson Blues ...
The previous post in this series is here.