[ 97 ] Earth and Space Science GED ® TEST SCIENCE FLASH REVIEW • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Refer to the following passage to answer the next three questions. In 2009, the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) organized a science panel of expert scientists to review the published literature on sea level rise (SLR) and make projections for the state through 2100. The science panel projected that by 2100, a 0.4 m rise was certain, a 1.0 m rise was more likely, and a 1.40 m rise was possible (see graph). The panel recommended that the SLR projections be taken into consideration in future coastal planning. 160 63.0 Relative sea level rise from 2010, cm 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 –20 –40 1.4 m (55 in.) 1 m (39 in.) 0.38 m (15 in.) Tide Data 1978–2002 Duck, NC Mean rate of SLR = 0.014 ft/yr 55.1 47.2 39.4 31.5 23.6 15.7 7.9 0.0 –7.9 –15.7 Relative sea level rise from 2010, inches 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100 Year Data from Figure 2 of the NC Sea-Level Rise Assessment Report by the CRC Science Panel on Coastal Hazards, March 2010 The report’s SLR projection agreed with projections from other science panels, including in Miami-Dade County (1–2 m), Rhode Island (1–1.5 m), Maine (1 m), Oregon (1.4 m), and the Puget Sound (1 m). However, it disagreed with a linear projection from historical data that SLR would be 0.2 m. In response to the report, an advocacy group of coastal businesses and government officials from coastal counties lobbied the state legislature to consider a bill declaring that only the linear projection could be considered in any NC coastal planning. The bill was revised to ignore SLR in any coastal planning and mandated a new report from the panel, in which all data and hypotheses regarding changes in sea level (linear rise, accelerated rise, decrease, etc.) should be listed, not just those with the consensus of the scientific community; the bill was passed and signed into law in 2012. The advocacy group cited discredited scientific studies, arguing that there was no scientific consensus on SLR, and ridiculed the science panel. The group successfully convinced the legislature and many citizens. This passage is based on Denying sea-level rise: How 100 centimeters divided the state of North Carolina, by Alexander Glass and Orrin Pilkey, originally published in ©Earthmagazine.org, and Earth Magazine, p. 26, May 2013. Are the claims in the article regarding sea level rise from reliable sources?