An inch here, an inch there...

...and pretty soon you might have two quadrillion gallons of sea water, or enough to fill three billion Olympic-size swimming pools. The inch being measured is the rise of seas. A new study claims that the seas actually rose five - not six - inches in the 20th century. 

The study resolves concerns as to previous measurements where the measure of the rise from a tidal perspective disagreed from that calculated by scientists. The new method results in the same answer. However, the researchers say, “One of the main takeaway messages is that sea level is really complicated. We don’t have a complete understanding of what’s been happening.” Yet, this finding does not negate the view that oceans are rising and we will be in serious trouble in this century unless we smarten up.