Project Noah: Managing the Rise of Modern Sea Level

本世纪以来，世界海平面一直在上升，而且人们一致认为海平面将继续上升。沿海地区的居民通常以两种方式应对：向内陆迁移和建造防御设施，例如堤坝和拦河坝，这些措施既昂贵又/或对经济和社会造成破坏。目前的工作将探索管理海平面上升的第三种选择：通过在不饱和含水层中储存水来操纵海洋水量的自然来源和汇。据估计，本世纪受影响的流向海洋的淡水的改道已经使海平面上升的速度有所减缓。额外的改道可能是解决这一潜在灾难性危险的经济办法。该项目将利用美国、乌克兰、印度、萨赫勒和阿根廷选定地区的缺水地区的地质记录、自然和人为蓄水对全球水平衡影响的数据、陆地卫星图像以及专题制图器面板的材料。

World sea levels have been rising throughout this century, and there is a consensus that will continue to rise. Littoral populations have responded in two general ways: by moving inland and by building defenses, e.g., dykes and barrages, being both measures expensive and/or economically and socially disruptive. The present work will explore a third option for managing the sea level rise: the manipulation of the natural sources and sinks of ocean water volumes by storing water in unsaturated aquifers. It is estimated that diversions of ocean-bound freshwater affected during this century has already resulted in a reduction in the rate of increase of the rising of sea levels. Additional diversions may be an economic solution to this potentially catastrophic hazard. The project will utilize geological records on moisture deficient regions, data on the effects of natural and man-made water impoundments on global water balance, Landsat imagery, and material form the Thematic Mapper panels, in selected areas of the U.S., Ukraine, India, the Sahel, and Argentina.