Atlantopia: The Insane Plan to Drain the Mediterranean

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[@megaprojects9649]

Thank you Squarespace for sponsoring this video. Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/megaprojects for 10% off on your first purchase.

[@MaverickBlue42]

Just saying, you spelled it At-LAN-toe-pea-ah....but you're saying it at-land-trope-ah.....they can't both be right....are there any videos where you say utopia for comparison? 😆

[@Rachel_M_]

I watched something about the plan to dam San Francisco Bay a few days ago... Simon: "Hold my pint"

[@gshaindrich]

4:13 why not let a computer read, it would too just read without thinking/realizing that areas are measured and reported in SQUARE-km (km²) or SQUARE-mile! Why have an editor when he/she doesn´t realize such simple things?

[@22steve5150]

The Med is slowly shrinking as the African and European plates are colliding. So in a some tens of millions of years it seems like we are in for some serious problems when the floor of the Med rises and the sea slowly shrinks

[@xxpyroxx1670]

that would be a good idea to train it it used to be lower in the past. just think of all the ancient structhers that would be uncovered if we drained it.

[@jessestaggs2136]

One problem with the idea of draining the Mediterranean Sea is that once done, all of that new land would then become one huge archeological site.

[@Thrillhou]

"Problem"

[@nolongerblocked6210]

That's the first thing I thought about too. Since the oceans were much lower thousands of yrs ago those areas would be amazing to dig

[@fireborn]

The Nazis would hust have burnt everything that did not prove their thoughts.

[@garretth8224]

A dust bowl from hell is what would happen.

[@mattm4600]

That's only a problem if they give a shit

[@ilajoie3]

Reminds me of an Aral sea disaster but on a massive scale

[@preppen78]

We could have ended up like Utah :(

[@ilajoie3]

@@preppen78 full of Mormons and unable to drink?

[@diogorodrigues747]

@@geraldh3932 It was unintended because every totalitarian regime is completely outdated. The Aral Sea disaster is after all a stupid decision made by Soviet officials that didn't care about anything than their power. This same problem in the regime also lead afterwards to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

[@diogorodrigues747]

@@geraldh3932 If the country had more civilian rights the Aral Sea project would never go on. Every single scientist would predict what happened after what was made there - the problem back then was that every person that contradicted the policies of the Communist Party was imprisioned or, sometimes worse, sent into the gulag. The existance of some kind of opposition is crucial to avoid these long-term and very predictible disasters, and that's impossible in a totalitarian country.

[@SkunkApe407]

@@ilajoie3 Magic Underpants for everybody!!!

[@dewiz9596]

570,000 kilometers? Simon, Simon, Simon. . . Being sponsored by Squarespace does NOT allow you to neglect SQUARE Kilometers. . . 😉

[@rogaineablar5608]

Lots of errors in this video. Salt water is not 33% saline but rather 3%.

[@WileyGunslinger]

Thank you

[@garretth8224]

@@rogaineablar5608 He said salinity which is between 32-35% in the ocean. Saline and salinity are different terms. Next time look it up before you try to correct someone, it makes you look foolish.

[@MarvinWestmaas]

@@garretth8224 Underrated comment

[@MarvinWestmaas]

@@rogaineablar5608 Overrated comment

[@billkallas1762]

Imagine 1,000 dried up Great Salt Lakes blowing salt dust 500 miles in all directions.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Or the (former) Aral lake in the former soviet union.

[@Chris-hx3om]

800 kilometres.

[@kelleren4840]

I'm already dealing with 1 great salt lake drying so please no.

[@reapersasmr5483]

And all the life and food gone from that area

[@comentedonakeyboard]

@@kelleren4840 i know, it's a rather salty topic.

[@Transilvanian90]

One other possible useful adaptation of the basic idea is to dam the Strait of Gibraltar, but instead of using that to drain the Mediterranean, use it to potentially keep its water level as it is now instead of it increasing if the Antarctic and Greenlandic ice sheets melt. Basically, keep the whole Mediterranean at its present day levels even if the Oceans rise.

[@PeasantByTheSouthernSea]

Until the levee inevitably breaks

[@Stettafire]

Define "useful"

[@Transilvanian90]

@@Stettafire You know... that has use. If the sea levels do rise, it could be a method to keep the Mediterranean as it is.

[@maxpower19711]

The Suez Canal would have to be blocked or else water would just flow in from the east

[@Transilvanian90]

@@maxpower19711 That's a far easier task, it's just a water canal that's 200 meters wide. A few locks would take care of that easy peasy. The Straight of Gibraltar with its 13km width is the true engineering challenge.

[@rya3190]

There's a book named The Atlantopian Articles by Cody Franklin, from the Alternate History Hub. It's a good read, and describes an environment similar to this video, though it focuses on the ideologies of those who maintain that this is somehow a good idea...

[@zidini]

Oh shit, I didn't know Cody wrote books!

[@rya3190]

@@zidini It's the only one I know of as his, but it's pretty good.

[@kafros13]

This definitely qualifies as the perfect scenario for a Gerard Buttler disaster movie

[@jimdigitalvideo]

This scenario would make a great movie.

[@DannyPhilipsen]

Or a Bond film

[@polreamonn]

Dam the Med!

[@LloydWaldo]

Gerard Buttler Disaster Movie: Gerard butler tries to do various American accents.

[@frankgesuele6298]

"This is Atlantopia!"

[@JonNogo]

Have you done a video on the scores of plans to alter New York city by blocking off numerous waterways? if not, could be a good one to follow this one up with!

[@megaprojects9649]

Will check it out, thanks!

[@JohnPritzlaff]

Even better is the plan to expand Manhattan by reclaiming more land from the water-the same way much of it was originally made.

[@deviildogg1]

Have you heard of the proposal to flood Death Valley in California? The proposal stated a lot of positives from the project as well as its potential to introduce a more temperate climate comparable to the Mediterranean in what is now desert. I would love to see a video on that topic and an exploration of the pros/cons. When I looked up the subject there wasn't much about it.

[@22steve5150]

Flooding Death Valley? I do know of a plan to create a sea canal system linking the Sea of Cortez with the Salton Sea, greatly expanding the size of the Salton Sea and making it as inhabitable as any saltwater body, along with creating a new shipping canal system to a new inland port city as well as side branches of the sea canals that feed multiple artificial lagoons in what used to be desert, with marinas and towns that would spring up around them and large solar power plants, making sections of the desert livable and making it easier to establish solar and wind power plants as well as desalination plants and brine recovery pond facilities in a part of the world there they would be most efficient but which is incredibly hard to logistically support via mere roads and air strips.

[@deviildogg1]

@@22steve5150 The proposal I'm talking about is specifically for flooding Death Valley. It called for pulling in water from either the west coast or sea of Cortez. It basically listed similar economic benefits tho like towns forming along the coast and such. What you mentioned would actually not be such a bad idea. There Salton Sea area is abundant in lithium which could become a thriving industry if a port were near by.

[@shaneabrahamson8732]

Why not, the Salton Sea worked out well. Maybe include an exclusive golf course and spa.

[@deviildogg1]

@@shaneabrahamson8732 the only reason that the Salton Sea became what it is today is because it's essentially a large pool. It was built accidentally by runoff.

[@craigb8228]

They're going to flood the Sahara first.

[@EpicGamerWinXD69]

As someone who already saw the video from AlternateHistoryHub on this subject, it’s a good thing this didn’t happen.

[@kennedyngumba320]

I saw it there first too

[@clamum9648]

When I saw the video title, I thought of AltHistoryHub's book, The Atlantropa Articles, where the drained Mediterranian is part of the history.

[@missmishka8379]

This reply sent me down such a rabbit hole. I didn't know about AlternateHistoryHub last night, but now I've binged so much of their content. I had no idea how big the alt history genre is.

[@jackleg2007]

Read the first book, waiting for sequel.

[@michaellutes1057]

Hey Simon, or Factboy as you like to nickname yourself, since you mentioned Utah, and I am from Utah, I have a question for you. Will you make a video addressing the people proposing to refill lake Bonneville? Going over the pros and cons and possible costs of it.??

[@scottielambert9312]

You had me at Utah. The first white meat

[@Caleb1874ya]

Then where would Utes guys race??? You could go from fastest to slowest state real quick.

[@michaellutes1057]

@@Caleb1874ya I mean, if the lake were refilled it could become a race for amphibious vehicles instead of land vehicles

[@aljawad]

The idea was adapted by Philip J. Dick in his alternate history novel “The Man in the High Castle”.

[@hobinrood710]

Amazing book. Haven't seen the show... Kinda want to.

[@Poseidon-1]

@@hobinrood710show was awesome for the first 2 seasons then it kinda goes off the rails

[@hobinrood710]

@@Poseidon-1 then I'll definitely take that into consideration when I watch it.

[@mho...]

@@hobinrood710 yeah its one of the better shows on the last years!

[@SL4PSH0CK]

My gamer friends recommended me this, haven't tried it yet

[@TheWtfnonamez]

I love the intro sting with the guitar music..... Its like nobody learned any stylistic lessons from 1990s television.

[@LordQuiche]

Real life Tatooine? I’m in!

[@Scilence23]

I can't tell where the beard ends and the shirt begins!

[@SkipsTinyBeard]

I seriously am starting to binge this channel more than the Discovery+ I pay for. Damn great content!

[@SkunkApe407]

The only downside is limited content. We need to solve the cloning issue stat. Fact Boi needs at least a dozen of those no-bellybutton freaks.

[@MaverickBlue42]

You pay for Discovery? There's another website for that pseudo-science/downright absolute fake garbage, it rhymes with "wire-it day"....if people stop paying for it, maybe they'll actually produce something worth paying for, like the content they used to make back in the late 90's early 2000's...

[@rogaineablar5608]

Just be advised their facts aren't 100%. Like in this video alone, he claims oceans are 33-40% saline, which is off by a power of 100.

[@matthewdopler8997]

Actually just off by a factor of 10.

[@krisgonynor689]

One of the old Star Trek novels mentioned this had been done in the 21st century as a way of stabilizing the climate and making cheap electricity for Europe. They only mention the pluses of those two things, along with finding all kinds of ruins and remains from prehistory. Obviously, this was before the discovery of the real history of the basin area. This was set in the the TOS era, but I don't remember which book. In the TNG era, there was mention, sometime after Picard was taken by the Borg and then saved, that someone asked him, while he was recovering on Earth (So around the time of the episode "Family", so maybe in the novelization of that story), if he wanted to become leader of the "New Atlantis" project, which intended, through geo engineering, to raise a new continent in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Pretty advanced planning, for the 23rd century.

[@geoguy001]

novelization of Star Trek The Motion Picture by Allen Dean Foster

[@ollaitsrealgood]

This video made my day because it contains a correct usage of the verb sublime.

[@KesselRunner606]

This story always reminds me of Mr Burns in The Simpsons, "Ever since the beginning of time, man has yearned to destroy the sun."

[@perrymaskell3508]

How is it that during a World War, Germany had all these plans, and actually executed some of them. I know the development of military equipment happens fast and gets put into effect quickly because there is a massive need and huge turnover, but all these other infrastructure things. Am I missing the long term view of the leaders at the time (i.e. the War was a temporary irritation compared to the decades and more view when the War was over), or the fact that 'back at home', things were normal compared to the front line, or that 6 years ('39 - '45) is actually quite a long time, or something else?

[@charlesrovira5707]

You do know that this is not the first time the *Mediterranean* has been drained. The passage between *Morocco* and *Spain* has been blocked by an expanding/shrinking *Gibraltar* on at least one other occasion, and possibly more than that. There are whale carcasses found in the *Sahara.*

[@flashgordon1262]

5.00 mins is enough of this fellow no matter how fascinating the subject

[@MattSmith-uw2pg]

have you watch drain the ocean on disney+ and do de havilland mosquito

[@BunjiKugashira42]

Reminds me of the plan to drain the north sea. If I remember correctly, that plan was presented as a cheap way of dealing with rising sea levels. At least cheaper for the bordering countries than saving every island and shore individually. Though this entire plan could just be a ruse by the Dutch to enjoy their favorite two pastimes: Building dams and planting tulips, as draining the north sea would make the Netherlands a lot bigger.

[@neuralnetwork17]

As a kid, in the Netherlands, I thought draining the North sea was a great idea. And my favorite thing to do on the beach was building dams. You might not be far off.

[@medler2110]

We'd get Doggerland back though, at last somewhere for all the doggers in Europe to meet. 😁

[@ajstevens1652]

​@@medler2110 Maybe it's for the best it sank

[@nithinkumar3839]

The literal LITERALLY the most insane The DOOMSDAY Ever Event.

[@martinstallard2742]

1:04 reshaping the face of Europe? 5:11 sponsorship 6:36 uniting the worlds 8:59 no way, no how 10:19 desertifying the world 13:56 just because you can

[@TS-jm7jm]

you legend

[@rudiboyrip]

How dare you spoil the unexpected ad

[@scubaskelly]

How?

[@matthewellisor5835]

Good fellow, that Martin.

[@scottielambert9312]

Nice work. Your awesome

[@piotr7805]

This is literally the most insane megaproject I have ever heard of. The scale of potential disaster is completely mind-boggling. Thank you for sharing this story with us!

[@bootlegga69]

If you're doing videos on insane proposed megaprojects, you might want to consider NAWAMPA or GRAND, two continental water diversion projects from northern Canada to southern US states.

[@zarroth]

something like that would never happen without the 2 nations merging into one though, so not really an issue...ever.

[@edwardwright8127]

“This insane plan would have completely reshaped the face of the Earth and the world.” Editor? I’m pretty sure the Earth and the world are the same thing,

[@MrBrandonfulton]

Always great videos with tons of knowledge. You are by far my favorite narrator on KZbin!

[@DJL78]

Nice blazer Simon. 👍🏻

[@skawesomeone]

weird, i just read about this yesterday

[@htchd1htchd149]

Um when the Sahara was a forest water levels in the med were way lower if not cutoff at gibraltar

[@Skotchsholt]

Megaprojects is discovery channel level of production value.

[@truemoayyed8482]

Hello and Good Morning Simon

[@patrickdurham8393]

The best laid plans of mice and men are often best left on the planning table.

[@macmaniac3080]

If this ever happened we would find soooo many answers to our past… most mediterranean bronze age civilisations were coastal and water levels were far lower back then… so many answers lie in the bottom of that sea…

[@malikblake972]

This similar project was in the man in the high castle

[@benutzerdefiniertyt]

Ah yes. Whenever I actually feel the absolutely fondness of beholding Simon's fabulous beard. What a honor xD

[@stevebrown8163]

Thank you

[@motomuso]

Some people drop the volume of entire phrases or whisper the important words to make a point. Problem is, these words and phrases which are being thrown away are simply not heard.

[@russellholmes3187]

Good vid, ta for the work you put in. How about that mad-cap scheme to do the same from the Netherlands all the way down to France, sealing off the North Sea?

[@russellholmes3187]

Or is here where I saw that? bad memory - sorry

[@davidsmith-ws4bz]

Makes perfect sense, along with all the other Madness,going on

[@JamieTheSassenachLass]

Damn! The dam was damned! DAMMIT! 😂😂😂❤

[@bpdmf2798]

Sounds like a great idea.

[@Bitchslapper316]

I can only imagine what sunken ships and cities would be found.

[@mho...]

that would be the only awesome thing about this! we got a bunch of lakes around where i live & they get drained by a couple meters every other decade or so to get the fish & clean em up a bit.... crazy treasures have been found in these, can only imagine whats just off the shoreline in the sea!

[@stimihendrix3404]

atlantopia sounds like a strip club in atlanta😂

[@walkingcontradiction223]

It is, you haven't been? Damn!

[@MrMuz99]

Atlan-tits does it for me.

[@jochenstacker7448]

I'm German and I find this idea too German.

[@DankTheGank]

Seems legit. Let's do it!

[@TheExciteMike]

Cody Franklin (Alternate History Hub) actually wrote a whole novel about this! It's pretty wild...kinda like cyberpunk Dune.

[@Lacteagalaxia]

Oh entonces no vendrían guiris a las playas de España ; me encanta!🤣👍

[@gearjammer3688]

Never give an idiot a child's atlas, pen and time to think.

[@cocacola4blood365]

Cody Franklin, author of Alternate History Hub, wrote a novel about this: the Atlantropa Articles.

[@ADEpoch]

Germany: Britain has a bigger navy then us, so let’s just remove the sea. That’ll fix em.

[@stevenmitchell7830]

Sounds great. When can we start?

[@richardrose7382]

One crazy mega project that I never hear mentioned these days; create a new, wider and deeper replacement for the Panama canal by drilling down to a certain depth, forming a string of such holes along the route, setting off a series of atomic bombs. The land would subside along this route and wonder of wonders; a new canal could be formed. As a way of getting rid of old bombs as well as creating a new canal…almost instantly. No idea if it would irradiate ground water, but then I imagine a lot of sea water would rinse through the new canal

[@silverbackag9790]

And this is how we get the new Siberian Traps. Panamanian Traps I suppose.

[@scottdoesntmatter4409]

gee, what would you do with the radioactive fallout? Bathe in it? That's spectacularly stupid!

[@FectacularSpail]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure this idea was studied and rejected because basically all of the material you're displacing gets turned into fallout. Less than ideal.

[@bennyfloyd2375]

That was discussed as part of Project Plowshare, an effort of the Atomic Energy Commission to find "peaceful uses of atomic bombs. IIRC the only actual bomb they set off was to cause fracturing in a natural gas field owned by El Paso NG co. They also had a plan for a canal 300 feet deep and 600 feet wide along the border with Mexico to shorten shipping lanes.

[@Lance.West4]

Act like they are talking about the weather last week when talking about the weather 2 billion years ago. Those geologists & scientists are just so smart. They must have a time machine to know so many details with such confidence...

[@pmgn8444]

The geopolitical, economic, and ecological consequences of this idea would make a killer dystopian novel (or series of novels). The resulting Grecco-Turkish War, among others, would be a blast!

[@bthsr7113]

Unless it was to be a novel that ended in a frozen wasteland with dregs of humanity clinging to the iceball that had once been home to diverse biomes, I think a key plot point is the dam being destroyed before it's too late.

[@hherpdderp]

Reminds me of another video on a plan to dam San Francisco Bay

[@russellfitzpatrick503]

Completely bonkers from start to finish ........ Yep, you've sold me on this one Simon

[@kennyteeology3526]

Just need the magical Dam/Wall of Ice from Game of Thrones.

[@giroromek8423]

A terrible idea and not only on the environmental issue

[@williamfahey6066]

I love your Videos, Simon and I Love you too! You are amazing. Happy New Year! Jeff

[@GustavSvard]

Speaking of massive unbuilt projects ment to alter the seas of the world: Please do a vid on the Russian/Soviet idea/plan to redirect rivers in Siberia to the Aral Sea!

[@antpearson9676]

Simon. Whistler gets where a breeze wouldn't. He pervades all aspects of life. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and delivers in mellifluous tones Maybe he should become Pope. Or a wok in McDonald's, they are everywhere just like Simon Ant p uk teacher retired

[@ms3862]

Handful of deterium and a few lasers: I'm about to end this whole man's career

[@EnormousPurpleGarden]

It's worth noting that the Atlantropa plan called for the water level to be kept at -100 m in the western basin and -200 m in the eastern basin, which is a quite different from completely drying out the entire Mediterranean as in the distant past. It still would have been a bad idea, though.

[@leeboy26]

You mean what he says in the video?

[@sualtam9509]

@@leeboy26 He afterwards suggests that the entire Mediterranean would be dry by referring to the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Albeit this crisis woouldn't exactly repeat since the throughflow of water would still be there.

[@folkthat3720]

I can't see your beard in the square space ad! As a fellow beardian I think you should know.

[@bradlevantis913]

Absolutely crazy. But I have to admire the audacity of it

[@toxicmustardwasabi]

"Again, we know this because...this is what happened, when it happened before." LOL.

[@kookyjoeb5524]

Looks like the waters are receding now. Abnormally low tide since Saturday.

[@wojciechdebowski5014]

Fun fact: creators of The New Order: Last days of Europe (modification for Hearts of Iron 4) decided to cut Atlantropa from the mod, because even for such insane alternative history it would be too OP

[@hellequin.303]

There's one car that will always find it's target 😂

[@tomfuller4205]

It will be a large muddy plain.

[@marcuscarberry218]

I have a few hypothetical questions i really want answered. 1.What would happen if all the fault lines of Japan have a 9.7 earthquake all at the same time. 2. If the Wan du fuca and San Andrea plate had a 9.8 earthquake. Is it possible that Canada and USA could split apart 3. What would happen if 2 Magentars collided with one another?

[@Mark_Bridges]

1. A bad day for Japanese people and aid pouring in from other countries. 2. You realise Canada and USA are 'joined' all along their border to the Atlantic coast, while these plates only join on the Pacific coast? Expecting an earthquake in one place, or along one relatively short fault, to affect the whole border is ridiculous. 3. Probably a bigger magnetar, however if the combined star has enough mass then a black hole will form.

[@Transilvanian90]

Canada and the US wouldn't split, but British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California might become a lot smaller.

[@jimpierce2899]

Just came across a proposed project to dam San Francisco Bay area off from the ocean. The plan was to turn the bay into a fresh water lake and to test it the corps of engineers built a giant scale model to test it. Might be something you want to do a vid on

[@varrantgreen4259]

Could cover the meditrainin sea with solar panels to prevent evaporation mabe the meditrainin can be tuned to fresh water

[@peterjames1088]

I think a better idea is for people to slow down breeding for awhile or nature will do it for us. I think depopulation is a cure for every long term problem. We are running out of resources and the physical properties that sustain all living things including us is breaking down. Any large scale change and the whole system will fall apart leading to war, starvation, and death on a scale unimaginable. I think we need to stop messing with a tested 4.4 billion years evolution of our planet and life and focus on slowing things down.

[@michaelhowell2326]

Seems like the juiciest target in the history of warfare that would be all but impossible to defend.

[@sharlharmakhis280]

3:42 'arable' might be a stretch, with all that salt 🤔

[@dimex3362]

I was with you till you started to tell us what the climate would be like should all of this happen, when the local weather station can’t even accurately predict tomorrows thunderstorms

[@Brinta3]

@Dime X Climate and weather are two very different things.

[@michiganengineer8621]

The author Julian May had a (mostly) dry Mediterranean basin in the "Saga of Pliocene Exile" series of books, in those however the climate of Europe and North Africa was much as it is today. I remember another SciFi/fantasy trilogy also set in a dry Mediterranean during about the same time frame but can't recall the title or author. . Regarding generating hydro-power through Gibraltar, they would be better off looking into fully submerged or even sea-floor generators. Otherwise it would interfere too much with shipping.

[@michiganengineer8621]

@@geraldh3932 As long as submarines don't run into them trying to sneak into or out of the Med 🤣🤣

[@stroncium128]

Glenn Cook have one fantasy trilogy about theme like that

[@michiganengineer8621]

@@stroncium128 While I'm still pulling a blank on either the author or names of books in the series, it doesn't look like Cook is the one I'm after. His "Black Company" does look interesting though, especially since I love re-reading David Drake's books

[@stroncium128]

@@michiganengineer8621 i meant this series Instrumentalities of the Night

[@lyrapsi]

I think I would have answered the loon, "How about this instead, and hear me out, instead of farmable lands we create a giant fish farm that is accessible to several countries over great distances because fish is also a very important food. Oh wait, we already have one, it's called the Mediterranean." Then slapped him in the forehead.

[@kinglouis6974]

I actually like this idea

[@ClaymateDesigner]

Never mind the environmental effects of removing a body of evaporating water from the water cycle, affecting global rainfall plus the considerable weight redistribution of Terra tonnes of water which would affect the planets' rotation, nutation and possible even the tilt, affecting seasons.. Quite insane. Makes CO2 pale into insignificance.

[@deathsicon]

Well, the ice age portion of the fallout from this plan sounds like a good side effect, not sure I wanna wait for it to go desert first though

[@markpoole5854]

I was put off the idea of starting my own web sight when I realised I would have to change my jacket!

[@danielsweeney8164]

I mean, what could go wrong?

[@kinglouis6974]

This would make a good film Like a mad max style film

[@TrevorKeenAnimation]

Now do NAWAPA, the equally bonkers American plan from the early 1960s to pump and divert water from basically every river in Canada and the Northern USA from the Rockies westward to the Southwest USA, mostly California. People back then thought that river water that reached the sea or evaporated was wasted.

[@MinionofNobody]

One should never let reality get in the way of a big idea.

[@jackwilliamson6018]

simon? have we perchance done a show of the f-22? if so i cant fi nd the miserable beast, if not can we get one please? nobody does these things like you. big fan, here!

[@invisiblue3212]

I really appreciate the subtle instrumental music in the background. It rounds out the listening experience👍

[@randomtagr.t591]

Dode hated water so much he said: "Fuck it, drain it!"

[@annehersey9895]

Simon, your comparison to Utah is spot on. I lived in Utah for many years and the Great Salt Lake is a product of something similar done not by some Eurocentric racist Nazi but dear old Mother Nature herself. Utah, and parts of Idaho and Nevada were once underwater in the huge Lake Bonneville (hence the Bonneville Salt Flats home of most land speed records). That's also why it's called the Great Basin-the basin is the old bottom of Lake Bonneville. Lake Bonneville dried up because there were no longer any feeder rivers, Lake Bonneville dried up, no fresh water came in and the lake had no rivers going out and it became the Great Salt Lake because the evaporation left more and more salt as the lake gets smaller and smaller. Even in my 70 years of life on this planet, the Great Salt Lake has gone from a fun place to swim where the salt keeps everyone from drowning to now when it is no longer swimmable at all because of the salt that will corrode your skin like a burn!

[@pawelmatus]

Hair on top and Simon looks like Messi. Minus the frames, of course.

[@drowningpooralice5505]

There was a dude in Cali , over a 100 years ago, they called him the Emperor of California . He wanted to flood the great valley for some reason. I actually think there were some intelligent arguments about his proposal, but he was insane.

[@Micharus]

This reminds me of a book series called the "Gandalaran Cycle" by Randall Garrett & Vicki Ann Heydron, which has just this kind of situation (spoiler)

[@Dr.RichardBanks]

I would love to see that power generation plan explained in depth. Do another video on it Simon?

[@76ludlow]

It is a really nutty idea, which seems to overlook where exactly would all the water go?

[@brianjuelpedersen6389]

Evaporate. He literally said so. It would leave behind a HUGE layer of salt though.

[@76ludlow]

@@brianjuelpedersen6389 Evaporate to where? It has to go somewhere, most likely into the oceans, raising world sea levels.Evaporate doesn't mean disappear out of existence. The atmosphere could not contain such an amount of vapour, so it will come back to the ground, and flow back to the sea.

[@alfredorotondo]

@@76ludlow probably would just rain or snow in northern Italy, spain and the balcans, like it does now Possibly would increase rainfall in Algeria, france and tunisia too but I don't think of a lot So most probably would address the water problems of southern europe and clean the new salty land there Plus with lower land the snow line would recede a bit and thus make the glaciers bigger, but I'm not sure about this point And at the end, sorgel wanted to make the chad lake greater so it could have finished there too (via partial diversion of the congo and mali rivers)

[@76ludlow]

@@alfredorotondo Yes, but the question remains, where would all the water go? It would certainly cause a massive sea level rise worldwide. A certain amount of the water would also fall as rain back into the Mediterranean Basin,. Another question to be considered is the River Nile. Presumably it will sill flow.

[@alfredorotondo]

@@76ludlow yes according to sources the sea level would rise by around ten meters, a bit less if the megachad and megacongo lakes were to be made Plus the nile isn't a problem because the Mediterranean is already an evaporative sea (a lot of water enters from the Black Sea and the Atlantic Ocean but still water level is lower than it should be)

[@danielhale1]

Thank heaven something like this was too hard to even try. Deep plowing and other disasters from short-sighted, raving ideologists would have paled in comparison to this error.

[@ronsimpsonll9739]

Simon!