Craig is temporarily a post-doctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who is looking for a permanent position. He spends most of his time balancing his overwhelming geekdom with normalcy so he can function in the real world. Luckily his wife likes his geekiness.
Peter Etnoyer is a Graduate Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He studies deep corals and ocean fronts, and he loves to be on the water.
Kevin Zelnio is a Graduate Student Researcher at Penn State studying the ecology of hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. He raises awareness of the plight of the spineless through folk music.
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Category: Conservation & Environment
Posted on: May 7, 2008 9:33 PM, by CR McClain
A new study lead by Chao in Science estimates that nearly 10,800 cubic kilometers of water are stored in artificial reservoirs. That is little over twice the volume of Lake Michigan. The authors estimate this quantity of water reduces global sea levels by -30mm, with an average rate of -0.55mm per year over the last half century.
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Comments
It won't make a dam bit of difference!
Posted by: Ian | May 8, 2008 9:59 AM
There was a study about 20 years ago in Nature which addressed the problem of rising sea levels. The slow-down by reservoirs was included. A number of possible solutions were mentioned. These included digging below sea level canals into the Dead Sea basin and into Death Valley. Seaside zoning, which is not going to happen, was also discussed. I copied this to a colleague in the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Posted by: Jim Thomerson | May 8, 2008 11:05 AM
The increased surface area of water might increase evaporation into the water cycle. I wonder if that has any effect?
tomS
Posted by: tomS | May 9, 2008 5:19 AM
An extra L in "Global seal levels"
Posted by: Kiki | May 13, 2008 6:42 AM