Massive geoengineering projects to hold back glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica could slow sea level rise.
A major threat from climate change is rising sea levels, and much of that threat comes from glaciers melting into the oceans. By the end of the century, sea levels are predicted to be a meter higher, causing frequent floods of coastal cities.
So a group of glaciologists is proposing a radical solution to buy us more time to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to climate change. They are proposing huge engineering projects to act as barriers, holding back the glaciers, slowing their melt and staving off the rising tide. The idea is explored in a commentary published last month in the journal Nature. John Moore, a glaciologist at Beijing Normal University in China, and his colleagues suggest three ways that the glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica contributing the most to sea level rise could be stopped in their tracks. Read more in Inside Science.