The best gauge we have is what was once above water is now underwater.
I have asked you for examples of what is now underwater that wasn't years ago. I have no intention of searching for it myself because it would be a waste of time. In that picture the grass on the footpath was JUST above water 70 years ago. The grass and trees are doing OK [they are not mangrove] so must still be above high water. I used to row my punt from there to the open ocean so if the sea level of the Pacific was rising it would rise in that creek.
BTW your link didn't work but I found the article anyway. It's six years old and just an opinion piece. They may have grown back since.
Five tiny Pacific islands have disappeared due to rising seas and erosion, a discovery thought to be the first scientific confirmation of the impact of climate change on coastlines in the Pacific, according to Australian researchers.
