Draining the Mediterranean, worth the effort?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Draining the Mediterranean, worth the effort?

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

Outside the issues already presented, there is also the fact that you'd see the opposite effect of going up a mountain; the temperature would be higher in these low-lying areas than are the current coastlines. Hotter, drier, and saltier is not a recipe for an agricultural miracle. Hell, apart from the saltier part it's basically what's projected for the Mediterranean countries as is, and the forecast puts their future agricultural output as significantly lower than present some decades from now. Going the other way by using techniques that help retain water in an area and growing crops which are suited to the region would probably be a better idea. Like, the deserts of North Africa are basically what you'd be left with, so why not just try to improve them directly?

# ¿ Jun 14, 2015 22:20

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 15:38

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

Grand Theft Autobot posted:

You really want to be the one to tell that to the Fuhrer?

The Nazis weren't actually big fans of the concept, citing "the overly optimistic nature of the proposal". They then invaded Russia.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2015 05:25

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

Dr. Arbitrary posted:

How do the new borders work for coastal countries?

The new land becomes German. The whole plan is based around closing the sandy beaches gap which Germany suffers from.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2015 21:23

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

Solkanar512 posted:

I'm curious about this as well, especially the localized effect on the weather.

If you had that giant basin sitting there evaporating water, where would the water come down at, generally speaking?

Greece, Italy, and the Balkans I think. (The latter of which does not appear to need even more water.) Maybe the engineering of micro climates could capture some of the additional water in the air, and reduce the rate of evaporation of the water that did get captured? The desert does have the potential to get pretty cold at night.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2015 21:42

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

MrChips posted:

Guys you have it all wrong.

Instead of building a dam and draining the Med, we should be building a dam and pumping more water into the Med. One or two hundred metres more should be enough.

For that to work, you'd need a dam on both sides of the Sinai Peninsula too, plus one at the Dardanelles.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2015 05:30

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 15:38

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

DrSunshine posted:

While the idea of turning the Mediterranean into some kind of giant hydroelectric lake is rather kooky, I wonder if we might be able to harness the strong currents flowing through the straits of Gibraltar to generate energy through tidal power?

Just look at that sexy gradient.

Actually, we just have to wait until global warming starts melting Antarctica, then dam the Strait of Gibraltar, both sides of the Sinai Peninsula, and possibly somewhere past the Urals around the Irtysh river. Instead of ruining the Mediterranean coastline you'd be saving it, but you'd still get a decent enough drop in water level that you could probably get some power out of it, at both ends of the Med.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2015 17:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Draining the Mediterranean, worth the effort?