In the web page http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/coldscience/aiceshet.htm
 on sea level rise due to global warming, under the subheading 'Rising
water' it states "Oppenheimer thinks the most likely scenario is for
melting to gradually increase during the coming century with the Ross
Ice Shelf finally gone in about 200 years".  Who is Oppenheimer, is he
a professor on the environment or what is his qualification?

Hello et1000-ga,

The article you linked to shows that Michael Oppenheimer is associated
with the Environmental Defense Fund. Searching for his name quickly
brings up reveals that he is a professor of geosciences and
international affairs at Princeton University. The Princeton links
I've included will give you access to detailed information about him,
including his biography, curriculum vita, full list of publications,
research, classes and students. He is a recognized and frequently
qouted expert on global warming.

Best wishes for your further explorations.

~ czh ~

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/coldscience/aiceshet.htm
Icy rivers
But, "one outcome that may be put aside for the moment, because no
convincing model of it has been presented, is a sudden collapse that
causes a level rise in the coming century," says Michael Oppenheimer
of the Environmental Defense Fund.

http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~step/people/oppenheimer.html
Michael Oppenheimer -- Biography

http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~step/people/mo-cv-9.30.04.pdf
(Michael Oppenheimer) 1 CURRICULUM VITA (October 2004) 

http://geoweb.princeton.edu/people/faculty/oppenheimer/
Michael Oppenheimer 
Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs

http://www.environmentaldefense.org/home.cfm
Environmental Defense Fund

http://www.environmentaldefense.org/mediacenter.cfm?subnav=expertguide&contentid=3142
Michael Oppenheimer
Science Adviser

Oppenheimer is a Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at
Princeton University and is the current Director of the Program in
Science, Technology and Environmental Policy (STEP) at the Woodrow
Wilson School. An atmospheric physicist, Oppenheimer worked with
Environmental Defense for two decades, where he served as its Chief
Scientist and Manager of the Global and Regional Atmosphere Program.
He continues as a consultant to our programs on air quality, climate
change, acid rain and ozone depletion. Fields of specialization
include the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere and the
environmental consequences of atmospheric change.

Currently serves on the National Academy of Sciences Panel on
Atmospheric Effects of Aviation; visiting committee, Cornell Center
for the Environment, Cornell University; advisory board, Pace
University Center for Environmental Legal Studies.

Co-author, Dead Heat: The Race Against The Greenhouse Effect (New
Republic Books, 1990); author of numerous articles on climate change,
acid deposition, the upper atmosphere and space.

Physicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (1971-1981);
visiting astronomer, University of California, Santa Cruz (1978-1979);
research fellow, Harvard College Observatory (1971-1973).

Ph.D., Chemical Physics, University of Chicago. 


SEARCH STRATEGY
Michael Oppenheimer Environmental Defense Fund.

I am not a researcher but i would like to say that i saw a program on
teh Discovery Ch last year were they said that this is not global
warming but something normal. They say that every few thousands of
years (10 i think) that the earth warms up and cool down again. I
remmber something alone these lines.

Good luck