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Reducing sea level rise with submerged barriers and dams in Greenland

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  • Julian David Hunt

    (International Institute of Applied Systems Analsys (IIASA))

  • Edward Byers

    (International Institute of Applied Systems Analsys (IIASA))

Abstract

Sea levels have been rising at an increasing rate in the past decades, due to the increased ocean temperatures and glacier melt caused by global warming. The continued increase in sea levels will result in large-scale impacts in coastal areas as they are submerged by the sea. Locations not able to bear the costs of implementing protection and adaptation measures will have to be abandoned, resulting in social, economic, and environmental losses. The most important mitigation goal for sea level rise is to reduce or possibly revert carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However, given the magnitude and long time lag between emissions and impacts, new adaptation measures to reduce sea level rise should be proposed, developed and if possible, implemented. This paper suggests that submerged barriers or dams built in front of ice sheets and glaciers would contribute to reducing the ice melt in Greenland. The ten proposed barriers or dams in this paper could prevent the contribution to sea level rise by up to 5.3 m at a cost of US$ 0.275 billion a year. This is much lower when compared to adaptation measures to sea level rise around the world estimated to be US$ 1.4 trillion a year by 2100.

Suggested Citation

  • Julian David Hunt & Edward Byers, 2019. "Reducing sea level rise with submerged barriers and dams in Greenland," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 779-794, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:masfgc:v:24:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1007_s11027-018-9831-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11027-018-9831-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Chrysanthos Maraveas & Christos-Spyridon Karavas & Dimitrios Loukatos & Thomas Bartzanas & Konstantinos G. Arvanitis & Eleni Symeonaki, 2023. "Agricultural Greenhouses: Resource Management Technologies and Perspectives for Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-46, July.

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