We have grown so accustomed to our tools being nearly perfect that we are shocked when we find ourselves in the no man's land beyond their level of precision.
Within the plot of the play at least, in one case, the land appeared to be falling rather than the sea-level rising, and in another, both land and sea were rising together, thus disguising the reality of sea-level rise, but within the plot, a university department would lose a lucrative grant if they told the truth.