Storing water on land is geographically feasible to counteract sea level rise
While theoretical geoengineering proposals suggest storing ocean water on land or ice sheets to mitigate sea level rise, observational evidence reveals that continents are currently experiencing severe water loss and drying, making land-based storage practically challenging.
Papers 4 and 5 discuss theoretical proposals for mitigating sea level rise by storing water on land or ice sheets. However, papers 0, 1, and 2 use satellite and reanalysis data to show that global terrestrial water storage is actually declining rapidly due to continental drying and groundwater depletion, highlighting major practical hurdles for land-based water storage.
The evidence we hold leans leans refuted
How this was weighed
official record 3x · fact-check 2x · hedged 1x · crowd & reference 1x
- Sea Level Rise Mitigation by Global Sea Water Desalination U · peer-reviewed · supports · weight 1.3 · 2021
- Delaying future sea-level rise by storing water in Antarctic · peer-reviewed · supports · weight 1.3 · 2016
- Abrupt sea level rise and Earth's gradual pole shift reveal · peer-reviewed · refutes · weight 1.6 · 2025
- Unprecedented continental drying, shrinking freshwater avail · peer-reviewed · refutes · weight 1.3 · 2025
- An Abrupt Decline in Global Terrestrial Water Storage and It · peer-reviewed · refutes · weight 1.3 · 2024
M. Hindiyeh, Aiman Albatayneh, Rashed Altarawneh, M. Jaradat, Murad Al-Omary, Q. Abdelal, Tarek Tayara, Osama Khalil, Adel Juaidi, Ramez Abdallah, Partick Dutournié, M. Jeguirim. Sea Level Rise Mitigation by Global Sea Water Desalination Using Renewable-Energy-Powered Plants. 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179552
Desalination and storing excess water in dams and lakes or on ice sheets can theoretically prevent sea level rise and cover global water demands.
Ki‐Weon Seo, Dongryeol Ryu, Taewhan Jeon, Kookhyoun Youm, Jae‐Seung Kim, Earthu H Oh, Jianli Chen, James S. Famiglietti, Clark R. Wilson. Abrupt sea level rise and Earth's gradual pole shift reveal permanent hydrological regime changes in the 21st century.. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adq6529
Global observations show ongoing and severe terrestrial water storage depletion rather than accumulation, indicating land is losing water.
See more details
K. Frieler, M. Mengel, A. Levermann. Delaying future sea-level rise by storing water in Antarctica. 2016. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-203-2016
Pumping ocean water onto the Antarctic ice sheet can delay sea level rise, though it requires immense energy.
H. Chandanpurkar, James S. Famiglietti, Kaushik Gopalan, D. Wiese, Y. Wada, Kaoru Kakinuma, J. Reager, Fan Zhang. Unprecedented continental drying, shrinking freshwater availability, and increasing land contributions to sea level rise. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx0298
Continents are undergoing unprecedented drying and losing freshwater, contributing to sea level rise rather than mitigating it.
M. Rodell, A. Barnoud, F. R. Robertson, R. Allan, A. Bellas‐Manley, M. Bosilovich, Don P. Chambers, Felix Landerer, Bryant D Loomis, R. S. Nerem, M. O'Neill, D. Wiese, S. Seneviratne. An Abrupt Decline in Global Terrestrial Water Storage and Its Relationship with Sea Level Change. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-024-09860-w
Terrestrial water storage has declined rapidly globally with little evidence of recovery, complicating plans for land-based water storage.
The paper trail · every fact has a biography
Challenge the receipt
Citation formatting by citeproc-js (Frank Bennett) and the Citation Style Language project. Source and licenses.
Terms · Privacy · How verdicts work · Dispute this receipt