Making the desert bloom.
Discussion
One of my ambitions is to "Feed the World" [(c)Bob Marley & Midge Ure] 
The plan is as follows;
Set up a solar powered desalination plant in a democratic Libya or Tunisia.
Gather organic waste from Europe and transport to the Sahara
Spread it over the desert to create topsoil
Plant some stuff like potatoes and whatnot
In other words - why can't we turn the Sahara into farmland?
The plan is as follows;
Set up a solar powered desalination plant in a democratic Libya or Tunisia.
Gather organic waste from Europe and transport to the Sahara
Spread it over the desert to create topsoil
Plant some stuff like potatoes and whatnot
In other words - why can't we turn the Sahara into farmland?
Countdown said:
jas xjr said:
how about creating salt water lakes that can be stocked with fish in the desert ?
Where would the water come from to replace evaporation?If you continually pumped it from the ocean you'd risk creating salt lakes.
So definitely desalinate first
You won't cure world hunger. The population will simply increase until it is hungry again. Which is what it did last time. That's how nature works - breed until a critical resource runs out.
It's as practical as socialists who think that all you have to do to make poor people richer is give them money. No it isn't; they spend it until they are poor again.
It's as practical as socialists who think that all you have to do to make poor people richer is give them money. No it isn't; they spend it until they are poor again.
Edited by Simpo Two on Sunday 26th May 23:42
Countdown said:
In other words - why can't we turn the Sahara into farmland?
There are a lot of desert depressions in the U.S. that could be made into artificial lakes (if connected with the sea through canal and tunnelling). This could be used for aquaculture and would likely significantly increase rainfall across what is currently desert land. This has been an increasing problem in recent years with reduced rainfall and the Colorado about as well exploited as is realistically possible. They need a bigger plan to redistribute water resources, perhaps like the Chinese South–North Water Transfer Project to transfer water from areas of abundant freshwater (great lakes etc.) to areas of productive farmland in the American Midwest currently struggling with drought.
Someone once had a plan to dam the Strait of Gibraltar and progressively run down the Mediterranean sea to create farmland. There are also some smaller inlets where a dam and dyke could reclaim land.
Your money would be better spent on making the Sahara reflective - doing so would increase the albedo, bouncing a lot of the sun's energy back into space. Enough of that and the poles would get bigger, further increasing the albedo and causing an ice age. Then the Sahara would be just about right for farming.
davepoth said:
Your money would be better spent on making the Sahara reflective - doing so would increase the albedo, bouncing a lot of the sun's energy back into space. Enough of that and the poles would get bigger, further increasing the albedo and causing an ice age. Then the Sahara would be just about right for farming.
But surely increasing the size of the Poles would reduce the amount of land available for farming in Siberia, Canada etc ?speedy_thrills said:
There are a lot of desert depressions in the U.S. that could be made into artificial lakes (if connected with the sea through canal and tunnelling). This could be used for aquaculture and would likely significantly increase rainfall across what is currently desert land. This has been an increasing problem in recent years with reduced rainfall and the Colorado about as well exploited as is realistically possible.
Hmmm...what about artificial mountains to increase rainfall via adiabatic cooling ?Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff