Xinhua / LandovThe oceans are on average about 6.3 inches (16 centimeters) higher now than in 1930, when they started a noticeable upward climb. Melting glaciers and ice caps, along with ocean warming—water expands as it heats up—are the main culprits behind the increase.(Via Pruned - and check out the Pruned piece and Alex Trevi's selection of photos from Desire Paths).But the new study shows that reservoirs are also an important factor. Rather than adding to sea-level rise, however, they have counteracted it by storing more water on land.
Since 1930 the storage of water has prevented a total of about 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) of sea-level rise.
Without dams, sea levels would have risen 30 percent more than they already have, according to research led by Benjamin Chao of National Central University in Taiwan.
2 comments:
Could island nations petition the UN Security Council to mandate that net ice melt be sequestered to land with dams? What if the islands promise to take in refugees from the newly flooded areas of the continents?
Nice idea. And when the effects of climate change are at their peak, we can build skyscrapers of dammed water. Higher and higher they go.
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