Green Daily

Some say that if the oceans rise three feet, 20 percent of Bangladesh would be swallowed up. Were this a science fiction movie this might be the thrilling moment that either results in bad guys being killed, or good scientists reversing the calamity.

Unfortunately, this is just science. No morality or magic involved, and Bangladesh has a problem, but it also has a solution that appears to working. Low spots in the land in Bangladesh are called soup bowls, and while these spots are typically the most vulnerable to erosion and submersion, silt is actually making them more sollid.

Silt flows downriver into the Bay of Bengal and into the ocean. But it also builds up on the banks and sometimes in these soup bowls. The silt is marshy and, if the water is still trapped within it, useless. But locals have found a way to release that water, and the build up of silt has increased the land mass and elevation. That has made those areas actually safer and less prone to submersion.

In the U.S. levees along the Mississippi River prevent silt from building up in marshes and other places that feed on the nutrient rich soil, but the accidental success here may have some impact on how the River is allowed to flow in the future.

That said, just as quickly as the river giveth, it can take all of that silt away in a torrent. And the accumulation of that silt is a slow process. Perhaps, some say, too slow for today's rising oceans.

[NY Times]