Like stout Cortez and his men we stare at the Pacific with eagle eyes, and then look upon each other with a wild surmise and hope the sea surface doesn’t start dropping any faster because at this rate it may be gone altogether before too long. According to the PSMSL data center the Pacific ocean on the coast of Chile is dropping by about 3.8 mm per year. It’s like rising sea levels, only the opposite.

We admit a bit of surprise at this one. In northern Europe it’s expected to find dropping relative sea levels because of post-glacial rebound lifting the land out of the water. But we didn’t expect the same thing down in South America. It’s almost as if the oceans didn’t get the memo about what they’re supposed to be doing.