Could a World of Swimmers Raise Sea Level?

In the state of Maryland, a local politician claimed that sea level is rising because there are too many people putting boats on the open ocean! This is a true story! Is this or similar claims possible? Imagine if all of the people in the world agreed to go float on the ocean at the same time! Could that result in a significant sea level rise, perhaps even destroy low-lying nations such as Bangladesh?

Author(s):

Gregory B. Pasternack

Date Accepted: 1999-04-08 Grade Group: High School (9-12) Benchmarks: M1.3.3 S1.3.2 S1.4.2 S10.3.7 Keywords: sea level rise floating swimming oceans flooding Microsoft Word: 01_07_99_1.docx PDF Document: 01_07_99_1.pdf

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