Query: The claim sea level isn’t rising is based on blatantly doctored graphs contradicted by observations.

Relevant passages:
Sea level rise <=SEP=> A sea level rise is an increase in the volume of water in the world 's oceans , resulting in an increase in global mean sea level . Sea level rise is usually attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets and glaciers on land . Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly .   Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average . Local factors might include tectonic effects , subsidence of the land , tides , currents , storms , etc. .  Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries . Because of the slow inertia , long response time for parts of the climate system , it has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m for each degree Celsius of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years . IPCC Summary for Policymakers , AR5 , 2014 , indicated that the global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century , very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010 . Projected rates and amounts vary . A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 -- 2.5 m possible during the 21st century .   Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems .

Past sea level <=SEP=> Global or eustatic sea level has fluctuated significantly over the Earth 's history . The main factors affecting sea level are the amount and volume of available water and the shape and volume of the ocean basins . The primary influences on water volume are the temperature of the seawater , which affects density , and the amounts of water retained in other reservoirs like rivers , aquifers , lakes , glaciers , polar ice caps and sea ice . Over geological timescales , changes in the shape of the oceanic basins and in land/sea distribution affect sea level . In addition to eustatic changes , local changes in sea level are caused by tectonic uplift and subsidence .   Over geologic time sea level has fluctuated by hundreds of meters . Today 's interglacial level is near historic highs and is 130 meters above the low level reached during the Last Glacial Maximum 19,000 -- 20,000 years ago .   Observational and modeling studies of mass loss from glaciers and ice caps indicate a contribution to sea-level rise of 0.2 to 0.4 mm/yr averaged over the 20th century . Over this last million years , whereas it was higher most of the time before then , sea level was lower than today .

IPCC Fourth Assessment Report <=SEP=> Climate Change 2007 , the Fourth Assessment Report ( AR4 ) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) , is the fourth in a series of reports intended to assess scientific , technical and socio-economic information concerning climate change , its potential effects , and options for adaptation and mitigation . The report is the largest and most detailed summary of the climate change situation ever undertaken , produced by thousands of authors , editors , and reviewers from dozens of countries , citing over 6,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies .   It supersedes the Third Assessment Report ( 2001 ) , and is superseded by the Fifth Assessment Report .   The headline findings of the report were : `` warming of the climate system is unequivocal '' , and `` most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations . ''

Sea-level curve <=SEP=> The sea-level curve is the representation of the changes of the sea level throughout the geological history .   The first such curve is the Vail curve or Exxon curve . The names of the curve refer to the fact that in 1977 a team of Exxon geologists from Esso Production Research headed by Peter Vail published a monograph on global eustatic sea-level changes . Their sea-level curve was based on seismic and biostratigraphic data accumulated during petroleum exploration .   The Vail curve ( and the monograph itself ) was the subject of debate among geologists , because it was based on undisclosed commercially confidential stratigraphic data , and hence not independently verifiable . Because of this , there were later efforts to establish a sea-level curve based on non-commercial data .   In 1987 -- 1988 a revised eustatic sea-level curve for the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras was published , now known as the Haq sea-level curve , in reference to the Pakistani-American Oceanographer Bilal Haq .