Global Sea Level Stabilization-Sand Dune Fixation: A Solar-powered Sahara Seawater Textile Pipeline
Could anthropogenic saturation with pumped seawater of the porous ground of active sand dune fields in major deserts (e.g., the westernmost Sahara) cause a beneficial reduction of global sea level? Seawater extraction from the ocean, and its deposition on deserted sand dune fields in Mauritania and elsewhere via a Solar-powered Seawater Textile Pipeline (SSTP) can thwart the postulated future global sea level. Thus, Macro-engineering offers an additional cure for anticipated coastal change, driven by global sea level rise, that could supplement, or substitute for (1) stabilizing the shoreline with costly defensive public works (armoring macroprojects) and (2) permanent retreat from the existing shoreline (real and capital property abandonment). We propose Macro-engineering use tactical technologies that sculpt and vegetate barren near-coast sand dune fields with seawater, seawater that would otherwise, as commonly postulated, enlarge Earth seascape area! Our Macro-engineering speculation blends eremology with hydrogeology and some hydromancy. We estimate its cost at 1 billion dollars - about 0.01 per sent of the USA 2007 Gross Domestic Product.