Don Francisco: Consequences of sea-level rise

The Dec. 24 letter “The ‘Goldilocks’ level of carbon dioxide” was a very good description of the process of global climate change.

The writer pointed out that if all of the remaining ice on Greenland and Antarctica melts as it has historically, sea level would rise about 225 feet.

To put this into perspective, the elevation of Jordan Lake recently was 220.3 feet above sea level. So just imagine that a 225-foot, sea-level rise would mean that the beaches would be hours closer to the Triangle.

Some of Cary and all of southern Chatham County are below 225 feet above mean sea level.

The Atlantic Ocean would extend from Jordan Lake, through Moncure, Lillington, Fayetteville and Wilmington. The ocean would also be very near the foot of the Falls Lake Dam.

Smithfield would be about 70 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

I think perspective helps understanding.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Don Francisco: Consequences of sea-level rise."