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How artificial islands could help us adapt to climate change

Man-made islands could help us adapt to climate change and rising seas

As coastal cities lose ground and tiny island nations disappear to rising sea levels, human-made archipelagos could be the next grand idea.

Video by Howard Timberlake

From Florida to Wales, climate change is ebbing away available land in coastal communities the world over. Sea levels are going up and the amount of usable land is slipping away. These effects are already being felt and the process is seemingly irreversible – so what do we do?

We adapt.

Grand Ideas

The 21st Century is continually throwing us new challenges and expecting us to adapt – but for every Earth-shattering megatrend, there are dozens of genius solutions. Follow them all in BBC Future's special series, Grand Ideas.

The concept isn’t new – Dubai famously created its ornately symmetrical Palm Islands way back in 2001, and there’s evidence that Brits were building them over 5,000 years ago.

But now the idea of ginning up artificial ground in the middle of the water is gaining more traction, as startups, universities, and even luxury housing companies worldwide look for solutions to help humans keep their habitable space intact.

Check out the video above to learn about a few of these grand ideas.

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