Reply #16: This is one reason so many people don't care.

[Chulanowa]

"- Global warming is "unequivocal." Temperatures have risen 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 100 years. Eleven of the last 12 years are among the warmest since 1850. Sea levels have gone up by an average seven-tenths of an inch per year since 1961."

That bolded part? That's all people will see from that line. They won't do the addition (for some reason many people think fraction conversion is difficult) and will just get stuck with an average sea-level rise of less than an inch. They won't see the "per year", they won't count the 46 years from the starting point. They'll just see seven-tenths of an inch, shrug their shoulders, and turn to the sports section.

It's a true statement on the report, but it's also very cautious. It would be just as accurate to say this:
"Sea levels have gone up by an average of nearly three feet (32.2 inches) since 1961."
it's the same statement, the same measurement, and it makes the total amount of sea level change very clear. People don't picture forty-six years worth of 7/10" increments - but they WILL picture sea levels rising by almost a full yardstick since the study started.

Also, there's the "temperatures have risen by 1.3 degrees" - there's really no way to convert that into layman mental picturing to convey its magnitude. But one degree is the difference between a snowcapped mountain and a killer mudslide.