"We can say with 95 percent probability that the 20th-century rise was faster than any of the previous 27 centuries," said Bob Kopp, a climate scientist at Rutgers University. Photo / iStock 
Scientists says they have now reconstructed the history of the planet's sea levels arcing back over 3000 years - and conclude that the rate of rise in the 20th century was "extremely likely" to have been faster than during nearly the entire period.

"We can say with 95 per cent probability that the 20th-century rise was faster than any of the previous 27 centuries," said Bob Kopp, a climate scientist at Rutgers University who led the research with nine colleagues from several US and global universities. Kopp said it's not that seas rose faster before that - they probably didn't - but the ability to say that with the same level confidence declines.

The study was published on yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Seas rose about 14cm from 1900 to 2000, the new study suggests, or about 1.4mm a year. The current rate, according to NASA, is 3.4mm a year, suggesting that sea level rise is still accelerating.

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