sunny seas
i was thinking more about sea level changes. the numbers in this
post conclude that if we took all of the sun's energy that strikes the surface of the earth and used it to melt ice we could raise sea levels by 100 mms per year. that's 50 times larger than the observed rate. so sunshine has the capability. however, it's 20 times larger than the amount the brightness of the sun fluctuates. so it's unlikely that pure solar variation can be melting ice to make sea levels rise. so what can? albedo is the fraction of sunlight that's not absorbed by earth and is immediately reflected back into space. it's about 30%. if albedo decreased by 2% points, like say from 31% to 29%, we'd have enough energy available to melt ice and raise sea levels at the observed rate. in mythbuster parlance, i'd call this one plausible.