The speaker repeated it twice for effect: “Nothing humans can do in mitigation between now and 2100 will affect the level of sea-level rise between now and 2100.” The rise will be substantial, possibly close to one meter, said Michael K. Orbach, professor of marine affairs and policy at Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, N.C. “We cannot stop it. All we can do in the next century is adapt to it,” he added.

Orbach was addressing 200 scientists, policy-makers and representatives of nongovernmental organizations from 24 countries attending the Nov. 18-20 Coastal Cities Summit in St. Pete Beach, Fla. The summit was the inaugural event of the International Ocean Institute– USA based at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. It is IOI’s first operational center in the U.S.