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As a follow-up to Dave Potchak's letter to the editor about rising ocean levels, I would like to introduce a topic that no so-called expert ever discusses, which is the marine environment itself.
I agree that if temperatures would rise resulting in ice melting that the sea levels could increase. Every object in the sea displaces its weight from the smallest fish to the largest vessels.
If a child runs into the ocean, the child's weight is displacing seawater which is why you do not fill a bathtub to capacity before entering.
A Navy aircraft carrier fully loaded is a very impressive sight. However, they are relatively light by modern maritime standards.
The Navy's 11 active carriers displace a combined weight of 1.1 million long tons or about 2.5 billion pounds.
Considering that a cubic foot of seawater weighs 64 pounds, those 11 ships displace
38.5 million cubic feet of sea water, which would cover an area approximately 1.2 square miles with water 12 inches deep.
Modern commercial vessels can displace 100-250 thousand tons or more.
Just open marinetracker.com and zoom out to see the countless thousands of active vessels traveling the globe and the displacement is incalculable.
Now add every ship sitting in mothballs, the motor boat sitting in your driveway and who knows how many vessels sitting on the ocean floor and try to imagine how much seawater is displaced.
Thus, the statement that climate change is causing rising sea levels does not hold water (pun intended).
John Pierce
Cape Canaveral, FL
(The writer is formerly of Bellwood.)