Cherry Picker Accuses Cherry Picking

Cherry pickers like John Wiesner (ICO, April 18) shouldn’t accuse others of cherry picking (good cherry-picking article: http://tinyurl.com/m2uxfys). Previously I wrote that San Francisco has the longest tide gauge record in the Western Hemisphere (link to three ICO letters)  in which I analyzed San Francisco tide gauge information). In 158 years sea level at San Francisco rose only107 millimeters (4.2”) or 2.7” per century, a tiny rate of increase that somehow impressed Mr. Wiesner. However, at that rate it takes over 22 centuries, not 86 years, to reach “expert” predictions of 5’ by 2100. Only 129 years ago, the 1884 San Francisco sea level was only 1.8” lower than 2013.

Mr. Wiesner noted that San Francisco’s sea level in 1941 was unusually high, but omitted that it was higher than 2013 twenty-one times, including 1941, 1956, 1969, 1983, and 1997. He also missed my key point that sea level fell since 1997 in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Seattle, when all the “experts” agree it must rise at an accelerating rate to increase 5’ by 2100.

Researching his cherry-picking comments inspired me to expand my study by adding Victoria and Vancouver in Canada. I found that all six cities I studied had higher sea levels in both 1983 and 1997(1983 was higher than 1997 for four), and that half had higher 1941 sea levels, than in 2013.

Mr. Wiesner began by praising me for providing a link to my source, but ended by asking if I thought no one would check my assertions. Only a liberal could be so illogical. Why would I provide a link to my data, and think no one would use it? I invited its use.

Here it is again: link to tide gauge data. Please use it and challenge your beliefs. You could dispel embarrassing ignorance.