It was proved in court that Gore's 6 or 7 metres claim was bullshit. Even the IPCC estimates no more than 59cm by 2100. That's just enough to go over wellies, and the people of Norfolk wear them all the time anyway ;-)
If the temperature warms enough to melt ice in the Antarctic, does it not also warm enough to evaporate more seawater?
If the ice in the Antarctic ice caps were to melt it would produce enough water to raise sea-levels by 70m; likewise if the Greenland ice cap were to melt it would produce sufficient to cause a 7m rise - these are simple volumetric equations, and as such are accepted as facts.
What was disputed, as detailed in your post, was whether any of this *would occur by *2100, and the consensus was that it would not - but if they were to melt at any time in the future, those measurements would produce the stated volume of freshwater.
As to temperature rises causing evaporation - the residence time of a drop of water in the atmosphere can be measured in days. The residence time of a drop of water in the oceans is measured in years.
Similarly, the hydrological cycle is a closed system, so evaporation would make little or no difference to the quantity of water in the oceans, as is the case now.
More evaporation would occur, but only as an infinitesimally small proportion of the available water, so, if in theory the caps did melt, sea-levels would undoubtedly rise.
There would be more evaporation (but not that much!), there would then be more rain and snow, and then temperatures would drop, leading into a cold spell. This is the positive feedback system that stems from the current rise in temperatures.
If the ice in the Antarctic ice caps were to melt it would produce enough water to raise sea-levels by 70m; likewise if the Greenland ice cap were to melt it would produce sufficient to cause a 7m rise - these are simple volumetric equations, and as such are accepted as facts.
What was disputed, as detailed in your post, was whether any of this *would occur by *2100, and the consensus was that it would not - but if they were to melt at any time in the future, those measurements would produce the stated volume of freshwater.
As to temperature rises causing evaporation - the residence time of a drop of water in the atmosphere can be measured in days. The residence time of a drop of water in the oceans is measured in years.
Similarly, the hydrological cycle is a closed system, so evaporation would make little or no difference to the quantity of water in the oceans, as is the case now.
More evaporation would occur, but only as an infinitesimally small proportion of the available water, so, if in theory the caps did melt, sea-levels would undoubtedly rise.
There would be more evaporation (but not that much!), there would then be more rain and snow, and then temperatures would drop, leading into a cold spell. This is the positive feedback system that stems from the current rise in temperatures.