Sea level likely to rise

up to 70 cm by 2100

A new scientific study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS)  concludes that ocean levels could rise significantly by up to 70 cm by 2100 due to climate change.  Scientists point out that even the most extreme geoengineering projects would not be able to arrest the rising sea levels.  The study finds that as many as 150 million people could be affected as ocean levels could rise by 30 cm to 70 cm.

John Moore
Study leader
Beijing Normal University China

“To combat global warming, people need to concentrate on sharply curbing greenhouse gas emissions and not rely too much on proposed geoengineering methods.”

Svetlana Jevrejeva
Co-Author UK
National Oceanography Centre

Substituting geoengineering for greenhouse emission control would be to burden future generations with enormous risk.”

Scientists from the UK, China, Finland and Denmark wanted to see how five geoengineering solutions will affect sea levels. The team looked at the effects of firing a large amount of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere, putting mirrors in space, planting huge numbers of trees, biochar (turning plants into a type of charcoal in soil where they boost crop productivity) and switching to bio-energy. They investigated how these methods would affect climate change under different CO2 emissions scenarios.

They found that using bio-energy for power while capturing the emitted CO2 and storing it deep underground is likely to be the least risky and the most publicly acceptable solution to tackle climate change. This would also lead to fewer fossil fuels being burnt for energy. But this solution wouldn't be as effective as using aerosols or giant mirrors in space at slowing sea level rise.