This is a better statement than just saying "humans are causing all the warming", implying there are no natural forces at play at all. Yes, humans are causing the 'excessive' warming above and beyond the normal, natural warming which would have occurred anyway. If we keep saying that humans are bad for the planet and blame us on everything that goes on with weather, the public will just turn a deaf ear and nothing will change. They will feel hopeless.

About sea level rise….I know the current estimate is about 3mm a year rise on average, is that correct? However, this sea level rise doesn't occur equally worldwide, so those South Pacific islands may just be one of the locations where the sea is rising faster than other islands. See this article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080522084943.htm

"Tidal Cycle Could Amplify Global-warming Related Sea-level Rises – May 24, 2008 – ScienceDaily – Various studies
The results of several scientific studies conducted since 1993 have confirmed a 3.2 cm sea level rise. Although this variation might appear negligible, it has in fact turned out to be twice as high as that recorded over the whole of the previous century. This increase in sea level is a consequence of global warming. When sea temperature rises, the sea expands and therefore occupies a greater volume. This phenomenon is now well known to scientists, but other processes that have received less research attention, such as the tidal cycle, seem to contribute at global scale just as much to changes in sea level."

That seems to say that not all sea level rise is being caused only by global warming, but various other forces come into play.

Thanks for an interesting discussion….

I just wish that someone would consider that its, "not completely our fault".

The current excessive warming of the Earth is not caused by natural processes. It's caused by human activity. We should care; we should act.

These islands are not that old if you look at how old the earth is, so there for why should we care about these islands sinking? Islands are in process of being made EVERY DAY! Yes, I feel sorry for the people that live on them but, we are living in a normal process of life on earth. Sheryl, if you want to have it where all the conditions are PERFECT guess what,

IT DOESN'T EXIST!

They aren't taking this drastic step because of a theoretical problem for which they see no signs or evidence. That would be kind of crazy, wouldn't it? The evidence is extremely salient and alarming.

1. The current warming we are seeing is caused by human activity. See this series that explains in much detail how we know this is true:

How We Know Humans Cause Global Warming
1. A 175-year-old Puzzle
2. What Chemistry Tells Us
3. Causes of Past Climate Change
4. The Medieval Warming Period
5. The Only Explanation Left

2. Today there are 6 billion people on Earth, and a large percentage of them live in coastal areas. If we continue as we're going, millions of people will be displaced and where will they go? We can't just say "oh well" and let this happen. Wall Street would be under water, large parts of Florida would be under water.

Part of this Harvard news release states:

"Tong’s plan to relocate Kiribati’s 100,000 people was born, Tong said, out of the realization that he had to do something. IF SCIENTISTS ARE RIGHT (my emphasis) his nation is facing a humanitarian crisis and the world isn’t paying attention, he said. Kiribati residents have already seen unusual natural events that could be due to climate change, such as higher tides, coral bleaching, and a recent 12-month drought."

He's talking about a scientific PREDICTION of losing the island and I saw nothing in the report that had any figures on exactly hot much the sea level rose thus far on this island. Don't they know? I know that two small atolls have gone underwater, but does that fact in itself prove that the other 30 or so islands will also be underwater in the future?

Now lets look at the most recent major climate change the “ Little Ice Age” from 1650 to 1850 AD separated by slight warming intervals. Was carbon dioxide (CO2) the culprit on this recent climate change. Remember this was the pre-industrial revolution period. So how do you explain such a drastic swing in climate temperatures. The Industrial period is currently blamed for man made global warming. From the beginning of time, I believe global cooling and global warming has been a natural occurrence. I became skeptical when I heard Al Gore, the spokesperson for man-made global warming, offer carbon offset credits for money!
Keep an open mind, the Global climate of the Earth maybe more complex and influenced to a greater degree by such things as Solar Flairs, Changing magnetic field of the earth, wobble of the Earth, Planet alignment, etc.
Thank you,
Richard F. Klosiewicz