Gulf Of Thailand Won't Rise With Global Warming, Expert Claims

[LaoPo]

Gulf of Thailand won't rise with global warming, expert claims

Apr 23, 2007, 3:03 GMT

Bangkok - Global warming is not likely to cause the sea level in the Gulf of Thailand to rise because the body of water is too far from melting glaciers, a leading Thai hydrologist claimed on Monday.

Recent forecasts by the United Nations' Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which predict a 40 centimetre rise in sea levels by the end of the century will cause flooding for up to 94 million Asians living in coastal areas, may not apply to the Gulf of Thailand, according to Suphat Vongvisessomjai, a former professor in water resources engineering at Bangkok's Asia Institute of Technology.

'The climate change panel's projection was wrongly accepted to apply to the Gulf of Thailand,' Suphat told The Nation newspaper. 'We are too far from melting glaciers or ice sheets.'

Suphat added that, in fact, recent research shows that the average sea levels along some coastal provinces on the gulf have declined 0.3 to 0.6 centrimetres over the past eight years.

The hydrologist, now an employee of Team Consulting Engineering, called on the public not to panic over the IPCC findings.

'The climate change panel did not deceive us or exaggerate. Its scientific findings are just based on the environment of their scientists, most of whom live in Europe,' he told the English-language daily.

Asia-Pacific news

LaoPo

[farangsay]

Gulf of Thailand won't rise with global warming, expert claims

Apr 23, 2007, 3:03 GMT

Bangkok - Global warming is not likely to cause the sea level in the Gulf of Thailand to rise because the body of water is too far from melting glaciers, a leading Thai hydrologist claimed on Monday.

Recent forecasts by the United Nations' Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which predict a 40 centimetre rise in sea levels by the end of the century will cause flooding for up to 94 million Asians living in coastal areas, may not apply to the Gulf of Thailand, according to Suphat Vongvisessomjai, a former professor in water resources engineering at Bangkok's Asia Institute of Technology.

'The climate change panel's projection was wrongly accepted to apply to the Gulf of Thailand,' Suphat told The Nation newspaper. 'We are too far from melting glaciers or ice sheets.'

Suphat added that, in fact, recent research shows that the average sea levels along some coastal provinces on the gulf have declined 0.3 to 0.6 centrimetres over the past eight years.

The hydrologist, now an employee of Team Consulting Engineering, called on the public not to panic over the IPCC findings.

'The climate change panel did not deceive us or exaggerate. Its scientific findings are just based on the environment of their scientists, most of whom live in Europe,' he told the English-language daily.

Asia-Pacific news

LaoPo

Words fail me so

:D :D

will have to suffice.

[soundman]

Gulf of Thailand won't rise with global warming, expert claims

Apr 23, 2007, 3:03 GMT

Bangkok - Global warming is not likely to cause the sea level in the Gulf of Thailand to rise because the body of water is too far from melting glaciers, a leading Thai hydrologist claimed on Monday.

Recent forecasts by the United Nations' Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which predict a 40 centimetre rise in sea levels by the end of the century will cause flooding for up to 94 million Asians living in coastal areas, may not apply to the Gulf of Thailand, according to Suphat Vongvisessomjai, a former professor in water resources engineering at Bangkok's Asia Institute of Technology.

'The climate change panel's projection was wrongly accepted to apply to the Gulf of Thailand,' Suphat told The Nation newspaper. 'We are too far from melting glaciers or ice sheets.'

Suphat added that, in fact, recent research shows that the average sea levels along some coastal provinces on the gulf have declined 0.3 to 0.6 centrimetres over the past eight years.

The hydrologist, now an employee of Team Consulting Engineering, called on the public not to panic over the IPCC findings.

'The climate change panel did not deceive us or exaggerate. Its scientific findings are just based on the environment of their scientists, most of whom live in Europe,' he told the English-language daily.

Asia-Pacific news

LaoPo

Words fail me so

will have to suffice.

And Thailand wants to build intermediate range missiles.....

Soundman.

[gummy]

And the next prediction will be that rain will fall upwards given the right conditions !!!!!!!!!!!

[aussiestyle1983]

The water levels won't rise because Thailand is to far from the ice caps....................

Is that suppose to be a joke?

Well it made my day

[Francis Maube]

I suppose a good laugh is the most appropriate comment. Is it a complete idiot allowed to speak to the media or is it the media making it up? I sure hope for the later

Edited April 23, 2007 by Francis Maube

[Tywais]

Glad I'm not alone in thinking that to be a bizarre statement. Guess the term 'equilibrium' hasn't reached him yet.

[LaoPo]

There are rumours of talks between Vietnam and Thailand to build a dam between the two countries to protect the Gulf from melting glaciers...

Couldn't find any confirmation yet on google.

LaoPo

[Bisto]

Not sure is this the article they are refering to.

Very interesting reading.

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:mp3hJ29...;cd=1&gl=ie

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=author...amp;oi=scholarr

[plachon]

The worrying thing is this joker actually taught at one of the most prestigious Universities in SE Asia, so......gawd help his students.

The company he works for now are well-known for their let's say, impartiality, in concocting positive EIA's for their employers. About as objective as used car salesmen, when it comes to identifying impacts or potential flaws in the project.

[soundman]

There are rumours of talks between Vietnam and Thailand to build a dam between the two countries to protect the Gulf from melting glaciers...

Couldn't find any confirmation yet on google.

LaoPo

This is just getting better & better...

Soundman.

[torito]

'We are too far from melting glaciers or ice sheets.'

the melted wated just stay around there.......I am not an hydrologist, so can somebody explain me how it works?

[Mid]

benefit of the doubt ,

something lost in the translation .................

[aussiestyle1983]

There are rumours of talks between Vietnam and Thailand to build a dam between the two countries to protect the Gulf from melting glaciers...

Couldn't find any confirmation yet on google.

LaoPo

PMSL!

Let me guess...........

next Thailand will build a dam with India to stop water from the Bay of Bengal from comming in over the other side?

Edited April 23, 2007 by aussiestyle1983

[Levent]

"Sir, a comet just impacted in North America. We are afraid that the dust cloud might block the sunlight, with catastrophic consequences for our climate!"

"Oh, that's OK, we are on the other side of the globe. I am sure we won't be affected by it."

[torito]

benefit of the doubt ,

something lost in the translation .................

[steves_the_1]

im now begining to understand the term "land of smiles"

[Levent]

benefit of the doubt ,

something lost in the translation .................

Yeah, that 'something' must be the water from the melted ice caps...

[Begbie]

The biggest threat to the rising water levels in Thailand is the amount of humungous Europeans wearing skimpy bathers jumping into the beach at Pattaya.

So I say ban fat bathers before we worry about global warming.

[jumnien]

The biggest threat to the rising water levels in Thailand is the amount of humungous Europeans wearing skimpy bathers jumping into the beach at Pattaya.

So I say ban fat bathers before we worry about global warming.

Right on! I've always said that Al Gore might not be complaining about global warming so much if he lost about 70 pounds and took that blue sportcoat off once in a while. My god, the man's enormous! Of course he's hot...

[rak sa_ngop]

Article in the Nation

Quote

Gulf sea level 'unlikely to rise'

Global warming will not cause sea levels to rise in the Gulf of Thailand, a leading hydrologist says.

Sea levels in the Gulf of Thailand are, in fact, falling slightly, Dr Suphat Vongvisessomjai said. Forecasts by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change that global warming would cause sea levels to rise had been misapplied to the Gulf of Thailand, he said, urging the public not to panic.

The phenomenon will vary according to latitude, explained Suphat, a former professor at the Asian Institute of Technology's water resources engineering and management programme.

Global warming will cause significant rises in sea level in areas in the high and middle latitudes only, he said. These areas will be affected by melting glaciers and ice sheets, while areas close to the Equator will not, he explained.

"The climate change panel's projection was wrongly accepted to apply to the Gulf of Thailand. We are too far from melting glaciers or ice sheets [for sea levels to rise]," Suphat said.

He cited data from the Navy's hydrographic department that showed average sea levels at Koh Lak in Prachuap Khiri Khan and Sattahip in Chon Buri were 0.6 centimetres and 0.3 centimetres lower, respectively, over the past 8.6 years than the 25-year average between 1963 and 1987.

He also cited research from a Japanese team. In 1993 researchers Tetsuo Yanagi and Tatsuya Akaki found that sea levels at southern locations in the Sea of Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Indochina and Malaysia had been falling for 40 years, he said.

Suphat said the sea level in the Andaman Sea might also be falling because it occupied the same latitudes as the Gulf of Thailand.

Suphat, now a water and environment expert at Team Consulting Engineering, said the land subsidence reported in many coastal areas of the gulf was the consequence of human activity, including over-consumption of ground water.

Erosion plays a crucial role in land emergence and subsidence, he said.

Although climate change would not cause sea levels to rise in the Gulf of Thailand, Suphat warned against ignoring concerns about the impact of rising global temperatures.

Careful analysis rather than panic is in order, he said.

"The climate change panel did not deceive us or exaggerate. Its scientific findings are just based on the environment of their scientists, most of whom live in Europe," he said.

Since 2001 the panel has been reporting global sea levels will rise between 11 and 28 centimetres by 2100, and that the rate is accelerating. The panel was set up in 1998 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Pennapa Hongthong

The Nation

unquote

A bit more science in this article. Are there any experts in regional geology, plate tectonics and subsidence rates who wish to comment?

[LaoPo]

A bit more science in this article. Are there any experts in regional geology, plate tectonics and subsidence rates who wish to comment?

Have a look at 'Bisto's' post in #9, second link; that'll do for you.

LaoPo

[rak sa_ngop]

A bit more science in this article. Are there any experts in regional geology, plate tectonics and subsidence rates who wish to comment?

Have a look at 'Bisto's' post in #9, second link; that'll do for you.

LaoPo

Thanks I've copied this from the first link:

quote

Relative sea-level is affected by vertical

land movements caused by tectonic movement,

sedimentation, groundwater and oil extraction.

Warrick et al. (1993) summarized four main

processes affecting sea level changes: (A) glacio-

eustasy, ( emergence/subsidence of land, ©

manmade activity, and (D) ocean-atmosphere

effects (Table 4). These factors vary widely in their

effects on relative changes in sea-level.

Regarding the process (, vertical land

movements, Yanagi and Akaki (1993) studied sea-

level variation rates from 1950 to 1991 in the East

Asian region. Figure 5, in which the shaded area

denotes where the sea-level falls due to the plate

tectonics, shows that the sea-level has fallen for

the past 40 years in an area including the southern

part of the Sea of Japan, the Korean Peninsula,

Indochina, and the Malay Peninsula.

unquote

So maybe there is some 'method in their madness'!

[Ijustwannateach]

It's announcements like this one that whisper "job security" to me....

[cdnvic]

Can't wait to see their solution to ozone holes.

[soundman]

A bit more science in this article. Are there any experts in regional geology, plate tectonics and subsidence rates who wish to comment?

Have a look at 'Bisto's' post in #9, second link; that'll do for you.

LaoPo

Thanks I've copied this from the first link:

quote

Relative sea-level is affected by vertical

land movements caused by tectonic movement,

sedimentation, groundwater and oil extraction.

Warrick et al. (1993) summarized four main

processes affecting sea level changes: (A) glacio-

eustasy, ( emergence/subsidence of land, ©

manmade activity, and (D) ocean-atmosphere

effects (Table 4). These factors vary widely in their

effects on relative changes in sea-level.

Regarding the process ( , vertical land

movements, Yanagi and Akaki (1993) studied sea-

level variation rates from 1950 to 1991 in the East

Asian region. Figure 5, in which the shaded area

denotes where the sea-level falls due to the plate

tectonics, shows that the sea-level has fallen for

the past 40 years in an area including the southern

part of the Sea of Japan, the Korean Peninsula,

Indochina, and the Malay Peninsula.

unquote

So maybe there is some 'method in their madness'!

So you would think that any scientist using the above discussion of the rise and fall of tectonic plates would put forth that the argument that the tectonic plate upon which Thailand and the gulf sit may actually be rising, instead of the absolutely stupid argument that whilst the mean water level in say Alaska will rise, the relative water level in the gulf of thailand will not, leaving a gradual slope between Alaska & Thailand.

"Method to their madness" - grow a brain with some common sense is more to the point.

Cheers,

Soundman.

[kayo]

you guys are slow on the uptake today!!

so i-ll take care of it this time:

thailand: global hub of dry land

[Naam]

whatever sound logic seems to be applied here is flawed. the seas are indeed not level. differences up to two meters exist... that is a fact whether you believe it or not.

[gummy]

A bit more science in this article. Are there any experts in regional geology, plate tectonics and subsidence rates who wish to comment?

Have a look at 'Bisto's' post in #9, second link; that'll do for you.

LaoPo

Thanks I've copied this from the first link:

quote

Relative sea-level is affected by vertical

land movements caused by tectonic movement,

sedimentation, groundwater and oil extraction.

Warrick et al. (1993) summarized four main

processes affecting sea level changes: (A) glacio-

eustasy, ( emergence/subsidence of land, ©

manmade activity, and (D) ocean-atmosphere

effects (Table 4). These factors vary widely in their

effects on relative changes in sea-level.

Regarding the process ( , vertical land

movements, Yanagi and Akaki (1993) studied sea-

level variation rates from 1950 to 1991 in the East

Asian region. Figure 5, in which the shaded area

denotes where the sea-level falls due to the plate

tectonics, shows that the sea-level has fallen for

the past 40 years in an area including the southern

part of the Sea of Japan, the Korean Peninsula,

Indochina, and the Malay Peninsula.

unquote

So maybe there is some 'method in their madness'!

So you would think that any scientist using the above discussion of the rise and fall of tectonic plates would put forth that the argument that the tectonic plate upon which Thailand and the gulf sit may actually be rising, instead of the absolutely stupid argument that whilst the mean water level in say Alaska will rise, the relative water level in the gulf of thailand will not, leaving a gradual slope between Alaska & Thailand.

"Method to their madness" - grow a brain with some common sense is more to the point.

Cheers,

Soundman.

Also be interesting to hear his theory on Hawaii which by all acoounts and scientific analysis is actually sinking. I wonder if the professor would consider this not to be the real case rather that the sea level is rising at this location and hence creating "a big bump of water in the Pacific

[dumspero]

First, I don't think any of the posters on here have any sound idea whether the professor makes sense or not. This is especially so since these are very technical issues that are sometimes reported by people who don't understand what's being said--so they get it down wrong or take it out of context. A poster has already made this point.

Second, what's the basis to generalize to other professors or Thais, generally? That's just more of the prejudice one sees on here on a regular basis. And please, there's a big difference between criticizing something and making sweeping generalizations. The former is ok if rational, the latter is naked prejudice.