What Spain Has Done to Its Desert Shocked the World

[@rogerf7265]

A fact that is generally unmentioned in talks about plastic is the fact that plastics require four times less energy to produce than the equivalent bag or packaging made from paper. Hemp plastics require the least energy to produce plus they are biodegradable.

[@shawnbell3468]

A fact that is generally unmentioned in talks is that hemp would save so many trees to the point not needing to cut them down other than luxury items and fire safety. Sorry I wasn't stealing your opening to be a dick, it's just that there seems to be not talks, we got to get to buy pot now so they seemed to just drop the whole hemp uses hoping we are too stoned to remember saving trees. Although I didn't know we could make hemp plastics, though I should have.

[@RippieFarmer]

The reason this doesn't get talked about is that it is consistently untrue. The practical manufacturing process to make things FROM plastics does use less energy than many other source materials, but that ignores that the majority of plastics are made from crude oil byproducts and completely fails to account for the energy consumed to drill, pump, transport and refine those oils.

[@TheBooban]

@@RippieFarmereverything is accounted for in the price of the product. Except most environmental costs.

[@brandonsheffield9873]

However, to recycle the plastic is more intensive energy use. Crazy that works that way, seems to against some laws of energy. Just MHO. I love plastic and all its life-saving applications.

[@scronx]

I do too, but we're clearly going to kill all life on Earth with it before we're through. Nobody's verifying that all this plastic sheeting is factually, practically recyclable.

[@hellogoodbye.]

You’re telling me that an environment that mimics global warming is better for vegetation? 🤔

[@olafurpeturagustsson9165]

Yes, that is a well established fact. When climate change occurs there will communities/areas that will thrive even better than before but there will in probability be far more that don't

[@garyjohnson1970]

Until it's collapse, rain will increase until the trapped heat, doesn't allow it to be rain. Super chemical fog. You act as if this has happened before and there is a model or formula. This is all new, we are in the experiment, we dont have to continue, but those that don't believe....will!

[@garyjohnson1970]

​@@olafurpeturagustsson9165...it's a new experiment, and we are the subjects! I've been alive 64yrs, the climate has already changed. Why don't the young believe....I remember when it snowed, all winter.

[@gadiantonx8474]

@@garyjohnson1970 global warming trend since the middle of the most recent ice age

[@timbeaton5045]

@@gadiantonx8474 but accelerating due to human intervention.

[@chrisgo6478]

I wouldn't worry about it, It looks amazing. That's got to be the purest oxygen on the entire planet. Almost like an artificial rainforest.

[@ecleveland1]

That’s basically what a greenhouse is.!

[@cyberherbalist]

The plants would use up a lot of CO2, so perhaps they have to add it to keep up?

[@Hewhospeakstruth]

This would be great in Southern Texas

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

How to irrigate though - the areas that have water - southeastern Texas - don't need to make greenhouses, and the areas that are dry are already pressed for water. Aqueducts could conceivably provide it, but at what cost?

[@laceytaylor9474]

Except for the snakes, spiders, and scorpions!

[@spoksbobhim]

Hello, i live in Almería and there are no problems with water because there are 6 desalination plants.

[@RippieFarmer]

You have that a little backward. Water issues in Almeria made it necessary to construct 6 Desal plants. Namely, over pumping of ground water resources.

[@Crabneedspony]

My family don’t buy anything from Almeria, it’s mostly run on slave labour and high pollution, the EU obviously turn a blind eye to this

[@edwardneilsen2139]

As long as the plants are able to meet your needs pause say 10% to pump back into the ground.

[@Frisia-]

@@RippieFarmer What's wrong with desalinating water? You either make food or you use the land for nothing.

[@cindydavis597]

Does the desalinization plant take water from the ocean?

[@Roque-Cachamuiña-gs1wd]

The metric system is very simple: an area is 100 square meters, a hectare is 10,000 square meters, and a square kilometer is one million square meters. The units of length increase by 10, those of surface area by 100, and those of volume by 1,000. The area covered by the greenhouses in Almería is 30,000 hectares, or 300 million square meters or 3,000 square kilometers.

[@HAPPYPLANTGAL]

Greenhouses are wonderful, excellent place to work.

[@user-rz7cm2we3x]

You think? When humidity rises to 85% and replaces the air, you can’t breathe. Add the temperatures of 36-38 degrees Celsius and you have a picture of a Japanese summer (south Japan) - you can’t breathe, you can’t think, you simply can’t do anything. You just sit and sweat…

[@godzilla928]

2:21 btw in case of measures for area: m² = square meter sq mi/mi² = square mile

[@chimerahitman]

Almost typed this myself. Good thing I checked.

[@The-three-eyed-Prophet]

dude you need to slow down , how am i supposed to watch every single one of your videos ??? ...

[@Hewhospeakstruth]

Watop and the infographics show are some of the best channels

[@ferenclucas2842]

love this channel

[@Roque-Cachamuiña-gs1wd]

Today, Almería's greenhouses are supplied with water from water treatment plants that use electricity from photovoltaic fields installed there. Plastic waste, one of the major problems, is recycled or used as fuel in more than 80%. The major problem today for Almería's greenhouses is the biodiversity of their production and the social and working conditions of immigrant day laborers, with a high number of illegal immigrants.

[@jakewilson4679]

Thank you for bringing this information to us 👍😊✌️

[@linkhidalgogato]

its crazy to me that people talk about this like its in some crazy scale, dude even said it was the only one of its kind in the world but like... its not, there is a place in China with a way larger area covered in plastic green houses, its in the northern part of shen county, and unlike the almeria sea it is expanding, pretty fast too as more and more farms around it start using green houses, infact there are 2 separate areas covered in green houses nearby that each rival the almeria sea on their own.

[@kellerhorton]

Another interesting video Dr. Rarom. Thank you. Why a former cardiologist wants to remain anonymous as a KZbin science and economics sensation is a mystery to me. Just keep up the good work. Thanks again. KH

[@testedtrue7693]

one more thing you should consider is the demonisation of CO2 with large amounts of CO2 in the geenhouse, water consumption by the plant is considerably reduced and growth is considerably increased

[@Jebediah1999]

The demonisation of CO2?. Jesus would weep this air headed sophistry.

[@carlsderder]

i don't get it, in photosyntesys if you have more CO2 you need more H2O to keep making the molecules that make the plant grow

[@rispatha]

Did anyone else notice that some of those crops are Hemp/cannabis?

[@persnikitty3570]

Well, hemp makes the cannibus buds sterile, which makes potheads unhappy campers (they are not the same plant). I like hemp and love sunflowers for how much of the plant can be used, and how quickly it grows.

[@rispatha]

@@persnikitty3570 ... Nah ya don't say? 1 plant with 2 different version that look very similar. One gets ya stone the other just gets you coughing. They both still bud and the fibers from both can still be used for a wide variety of things. Not knowing for certain if those were hemp or cannabis I made it be the either or selection because there is not enough information to provide the correct answer beyond the looks and it being there in the greenhouses.

[@persnikitty3570]

@@rispatha This has been known for decades, though you might not yet have decades in your bones. Hemp has 0.3% or less of THC, while the same cannot be said of the Devil's lettuce. On the budding, if you plant hemp and pot together, you will be very disappointed. True, they bud separately, but absolutely not together. Also, sunflowers are nice.

[@rispatha]

@@persnikitty3570 ... Yer funny as hell dudette. I have smoked cannabis since I was 13 and that has been 44 years. I learned a lot in those years. You are telling me nothing that I don't already know so give it up cupcake.

[@anthonywebb269]

I do like my smoke

[@Ruisumi_migeru]

Cowboys are native to southern Spain, Andalusia

[@andersjuhljensen9244]

Plastic is fuel. Build a power plant in the area. They will buy the plastic from the farmers, who wil be happy not having to pay to dispose of it. Spain will get cheap electricity. Environment will be cleaned. Win Win.

[@SignorLuigi]

"m" is the abbreviation for meters. "mi" is the abbreviation for miles. With errors like that, it's best to stay anonymous.😬

[@lokimotive6959]

This dudes voice is the best......it always keeps my attention 👍

[@SumuJames]

I love how interesting you make stuff.

[@mikescarborough9196]

This plastic greenhouse thing has caught on with tomato farmers in Colombia. They use less water.

[@Daniel_TheGreg]

20:57 vegetables ? I love vegetables

[@ManuelGarcia-ww7gj]

The answer to the ground water issue is nuclear power and desalinization of sea water. And who in their right mind worries about worn out plastic? Push come to shove, any plastic can be converted to liquid fuel using a technique known as pyrolysis.

[@FlossieB]

We have driven through there many times in our Motorhome, from a distance it looks like a lake until you get close enough to see the greenhouses. 😂

[@jeffchamberlin6702]

Maybe greenhouses should be mandated in Arizona so they won’t need/ waste as much Colorado River water. Just made of plexiglass instead of thin plastic…

[@TheAnswer70]

Middle of desert, huge AWG "dehumidifier" machine to get water out of the air, Huge pyrolysis machine to turn the plastic into fuel, solar panels, geothermal... When i become i millionaire ill do it 😅

[@egilgabrielsen5981]

There's money in plastic. In Norway we burn plastic cleanly for energi

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

Watermelon (and some other plants) can be grown using dry farming. I have done this by filling a large plastic bin with mostly dirt. I then put 4-5 inches of cut grass over top. This means that even on a very hot day, no water evaporates (the heat can't reach the soil).

[@fk319fk]

Being this close to the sea, it seems to me that water can be pumped from the sea to towers. These towers would feed "saltwater creeks" through the greenhouse and allow the heat to evaporate the water. I know wood used to make evaporation lakes for salt in the northeastern US was a good building material for houses.

[@TheAnswer70]

Loved this btw 😊

[@thebulegila]

Dude, we can see our own cars from space, and they are tiny!

[@shawnbell3468]

...and if they sink the garden plots 3'-4' into the ground they could get an extra couple months "maybe" depending on their over all weather system. Although they can produce their own plant food if they at fish to upgrade the hydroponic to aquaponic system to use fish waste as fertilizer for the plants. I'm so pleased to see Spain using this system but almost all farmers should use this system even in ideal growing plots as every little bit of water should be treated as sacred.

[@OlyChickenGuy]

Minor editing note here. At about 2:20 you show an image with "143 m²", but say square miles. I believe you meant "143 mi²". m² specifies square metres, mi² specifies square miles. We all make mistakes, and I'm only pointing this out as a friendly creator-to-creator critique to help this channel be the best it can be, or in the chance that the information provided is genuinely new.

[@traildude7538]

My first thought at the start was that the plastic also changes the albedo so that more sunlight is reflected back to space than from open fields. My question is if it is more reflective than the bar ground was.

[@afroman123433]

21:03 ahhhhhhh yessss

[@Quickblades67]

Been a subscriber for a very long time, and I just gotta say I LOVE your CGI

[@JonKorpi-fk7yo]

We dealing with aquafier being over used in western US

[@hiromilong]

Hello from Europe! I really like you content, please keep it up. Although, could I perhaps make a small suggestion? Since your audience is from all over the world and not just from the USA, you could perhaps consider using double measures in your videos. Like giving us the measurements in both the American imperial system and the metric system the entire rest of the world uses. It is literally only the USA and 2 other countries that do not use the metric system. So, when you for example continously use Fahrenheit for temperature, everyone that is not from the USA has no clue what temperature you mean unless we pause the video to Google what that means in Celsius. Or the same when you use inches and such for length instead of centimeters and pounds and such for weight instead of kilograms. A lot of other channels do that too and it's a real relief for people from the rest of the world who really have no concept of the meaning of American imperial measurements unless we specifically Google a conversion. (if I'm allowed to be very honest, no offence meant, but it is very, very annoying to either have to constantly pause the video to Google the conversion or to just continue watching resigned to not understanding any of the measurements used in your videos) Just a friendly suggestion or constructive criticism. Other than that, as I said your content is great. Thank you for making it.

[@stephenwilliams1824]

We Brits can’t complain as we get fresh’ish fruit & veg all year round at reasonable prices.

[@daledenstedt6369]

Im not sure why but i find alot of you videos very interesting. And i don't care who you are bro i just like your work 💯 👌 ❤thank you bro

[@russell5078084]

If you can't drink your coffee without slurping maybe you need a straw or a zippy cup.

[@itchymadness3960]

You don't drink hot coffee?

[@NancynMark]

The fact that it can be so simple that we can pump in seawater in the ground sand and rock will fillter the salt content and will replenish the ground water its that simple

[@EffectivImmediately]

Leave the deserts alone 😱

[@TheAnswer70]

Isn't it better to cultivate in a desert that cut a forest down? 😅

[@Thom4ES]

I figure side by side rail road tracks ought to be able to move alot of fresh waters...a very large lot.

[@Jesse-zk9ge]

Wow a great potential human experiment. I think it would have some very interesting outcomes. It's a great idea using greenhouses like that. I really hope we do eventually figure out how to deal with a plastic and water issues. Seems like a good problem to solve to make a fair bit of money.

[@sandyberger-r9j]

You haven’t been there, have you? It’s an ecological disaster, the plastic isn’t durable and torn. Btw, do you think these vegetables contain any kind of nutrients? They definitely don’t taste good anymore. As a European, I avoid buying vegetables coming from Spain or the Netherlands- it might look like a tomato, but tastes more like water.

[@markwhelan1652]

Aquifers are also refilled with snowmelt from the mountains.

[@cheesezee86]

Snow😅

[@hiddentruth1982]

Thicker plastic would help it last longer between changes but would cost more.

[@Redorbluepill66]

Epic video.🙏🫶✌️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@XDoXWhatX]

It's not impossible to track who is dumping the plastic... make it so they have to pull a permit to buy new plastic. Part of closing out that permit is to dump within 90% of the weight of the original plastic they dumped at an official site with recepit record. If they are buying plastic for a new greenhouse, there should be a permit and inspection for that to prove its really a new site and not an old site.

[@hermanenzo]

Certain button smashed.

[@filipejesus5525]

That coffee and that slurp... Disgusting

[@elisedemerveilles3065]

It's easy to determine who the plastic belongs to if the Spanish government would make them mark the plastic at the plastic factories. Each farmer would have a logo that would be printed on the plastic used by their farms. It's not rocket science.

[@got2kittys]

Water is the Achilles heel. Lots of water.

[@lckaren]

I don’t see how the greenhouses are the problem..I’m sure the plastic greenhouse aren’t being torn down every year…there should be greenhouses all over the world, especially areas of food deserts like in America….

[@reyalPRON]

del mar de plastico. this has been like this for years

[@PH7018c]

Wonderful!.. Great use of wasted land..

[@aztech865]

Harvest moisture with a dehumidifier idea and the tech will get better. I heard of a child sponsoring a small one . cheap to make and works on solar power. But their version is for drinking not on large scale.

Arrows at 4:00 start in Valencia

[@RockFish-uv9vs]

Farmers should pay to clean up the mess.......

[@benitadominguez2077]

👀✌️ Gracias 🌎

[@rsnankivell1962]

02:23 143 m² is the size of my home, man! It must be 143 km²... right?

[@icosthop9998]

TY

[@TrEverEvoy]

I hate that coffee gulp so much

[@steve122064]

They need beavers at the rivers.They will follow natural waterways and increase water storage.The main thing they do is increase growth of all plants.

[@PH7018c]

Those creatures must stay where they belong.. They have caused damage in places foreign to their origins.

[@BlackHoleSpain]

That's an alien species. You cannot judge Mediterranean sea with North America mindset.

[@VancouverCharlotte]

I like your channel; it has unique, intresting and usually relevant to our world topics. That said; What is with the FBI hat? Is THAT why you remain anonymous? FBI sourses would have a lot of info/data to make great content. Just wondering. Many are. Did you know there is a Reddit about Watop? 🧡💯🇨🇦🇨🇿

[@wilsond1978]

That's weed at the end lol😂

[@jakewilson4679]

Stay anonymous my friend, always a good idea when having an opinion on controversial topics. 😊

[@T3RS1]

Plastic in clothes? haha no thank's ... when I buy my clothes I specifically look to not have plastic in it. 100% cotton only. I seen better use for plastic in Africa where small companies are making tile bricks out of plastic to keep roads and people out of mud.

[@stratejic1020]

This is where the hypocrisy kicks in when people judge for having all this plastic. You throw away dozens of plastic items on a daily basis all which get taken to a landfill which is dumped on the ground sat there doing damage to the environment. To make your clothes so much is thrown away and wasted and a lot of what is thrown away is again taken to the landfill where it sits and destroys the environment. The foods you eat you rely on companies to feed you but those companies do the same thing. Very sorry to inform you but you're not doing anything good for the environment as much good as you think you're doing

[@TheBooban]

Tile bricks? Think a little. Those bricks will wear down and you get micro plastics in the environment.

[@T3RS1]

@@TheBooban You already have. Right now in our blood and organs we have plastic already. It would be laying free outside in enviroment anyway.

[@TheBooban]

@@T3RS1 thx for telling us what we know already.

[@user-rz7cm2we3x]

I just wonder about the whole ecosystem and who pollinates all these plants so they can bear fruits? Also what is the taste and value of all these vegetables if they are growing on artificial soil or and in hydroponic systems and without any contact with natural environment (sunshine, etc.)?

[@amzarnacht6710]

Now if they'd shift to aquaponics they would be able to double their output yet again.

[@nathanielmoran6441]

It’s a desert, harvest the sand and make glass panels to slowly replace the plastic. Desalination plants on the coast can provide the water. If the government would invest resources to address these two issues the whole project could be a long term success story, leading the way in the world to solving food shortages, provide jobs and solve the same problems the world over.

[@l33t007]

The issue with desalinization is what to do with the massive amount of salt that is the by product. The places that simply pump it back into the existing saltwater only increase the salinity of the existing water which causes a domino effect of death on all the marine life. Even the most efficient desalinization plants have run into this issue and so far humanity simply lacks the ability to sufficiently handle in a way that would allow for there increased use without harming the environment. I have a homestead and one option we looked at for water(in addition to a well)was by the use of a panel like device that pulls water from the air and stores it. The only reason we didn't is because to even begin to use it successfully the relative humidity has to be less then 80% percent most of the year. The state I live in doesn't get 100 days a year under 80% humidity! Honestly there isn't a silver bullet solution for how humanity tackles the issues we've created for ourselves and co existing with a planet that will continue to change as long as it exists. The sooner we collectively admit the short comings on so much of the "green energy" and speak frankly that financial issues the rank and file citizens are having which makes any implementation of new laws a financial burden that cannot be overcome by 2030(or whatever date the UN/EU came up with). Ppl also have to be willing to give up some of their current disposable lifestyle. Plus be willing to purchase products that may cost a bit more but are made in a truly sustainable way. Note I said truly sustainable which is completely different then so much of the feel good sustainable products which only create more waste and use more energy.

[@gabriellashimone6546]

Why not recycle plastic waste, creating incentives to bring plastics to recycling plants. Then, develop concentrators to collect moisture in the air and concentrate it into water that can be added to existing water sources transferred to the greenhouses. Additionally, develop "farms" that propagate pollinating insects. Furthermore, raise hemp to augment recycling and produce cloth. Add all that to what's already being done and things will improve.

[@cslee6863]

Spain is different 😂😂😂😂😂 poor citizens getting very much poorer... El mar de plástico is killing there region

[@CaocaoX]

If they use solar panels, At least they produce power

[@CNormanHocker]

They make enough money to make Desalination factories. They could start harvesting salt and water from the sea. Is would make it better for their water issues.

[@Rottidog68]

12:05 that shadow on the right sure made me look twice. I thought it was some sort of indigenous artwork at first... Still might be 🤣

[@phiksit]

I think they need to build a waste incinerator facility. That's the only way to get rid of that much plastic 😳

[@TheBooban]

This is the best way to handle plastic but folks just gotta bellyache and make videos. The other way is to only use plastic when you have to. There’s the 2 solutions. Done!

[@BlackHoleSpain]

@@TheBooban There are such facilities in every spanish city.

[@TheBooban]

@@BlackHoleSpain good. And now they got plenty of water to capture and harvest too!

[@paulashe61]

Man made green houses

[@Joe-Przybranowski]

As opposed to naturally occuring?

[@Jenny-h8t]

Could this sea of plastic be preventing ground drainage during heavy rains? Just recently the floods in Spain have devastated some communities. I know the amount of rain was a years worth in a day, but if some areas can’t absorb rain fall this must have some effect over the country as a whole. I hope this isn’t the case as I can see the economy would suffer dramatically without these greenhouses.

[@BlackHoleSpain]

The affected area has been 40 km². Spain has 506,030 km². Impact in the country "as a whole" (as you said) was 0,008% 🙄

[@goldfinger1877]

My favorite thing to do while watching your videos is watch what you do with your hands. Idkw

[@anthonykeller5120]

There’s a great who-done-it that takes place here.

[@kevb.1791]

They could use earthship principal Earthships catch their own water use it in the shower run that gray water through a garden run that to the toilet then run that black water thru septic and outer garden Imagine if we used all of our shower water and toilet water..

[@XxShOeEaTeRxX]

thanks for the video kermit the frog

[@perwestermark8920]

#02:23 in the video the text says 143 m² - that is not (!!!) 143 square miles. That's the size of quite large apartment. Unit letters has a meaning for a reason. In many types of engineering or science, there may even be so many orders of magnitude of valid numbers that there are zero way to spot that a number becomes meaningless if the wrong unit is used.

[@larsnielsen1852]

Dude turn you Malta map the right way. What you put there looks like Sardinia and Corsica

[@Nath_NP-.-]

why does this thumbnail image have the same as "What Australia Did With Its Dam Shocked the World" one but flipped

[@cathymcc592]

This could be practice in the US South West. By using recycled plastics. Let's try it

[@traildude7538]

I can't find it now, but ten years ago I saw a video about a place in New Mexico where someone put solar panels ten feet off the ground, then strung plastic walls, and grew crops underneath.

[@richardwhite4923]

Breaking Bad on an industrial scale!!!! 2:04

[@aletaadams86]

This is amazing It is still harming the planet

[@pocavoz]

what is the problem? It is enviromentally better than Nederlands do or to import. Stops the desert, produce good taste vegetables... One city use more plastic only in the garbage bags than that plastics. And this plastics remain until broken.

[@trollmcclure1884]

A de-salination plant would make sense

[@DMPB-fi2ir]

and with hudroponics there is no chemical run off most effiecent systems recirculate the liquid adjust nutrient as needed so the is no second dary chemical polution, so i think you need to do one thing go back in see if you can get a percentage of hydroponic versus normal green house grown a proper hydroponics does not discharge any fertilizer, i have grown and teach how to grow hydroponics and have done so for more then 2 decades. Also plants grow fast stronger and healthier and produce ready to harvest mature crops at a faster rate

[@NicoVeenkamp]

This whole area was now destroyed in the recent climate disaster. So that means the prices of groceries are going to rise in Europe.

[@SilverBullet93GT]

*mmmmm desert.... bwhaaaa*

[@elisedemerveilles3065]

And NO, I don't want clothing made from recycled microplastics, since our clothing is already one of the leading sources of microplastics that absorb into our skin.

[@karinphua9415]

😂it finally rained in the plains of Spain.

[@mark7s980]

I'm surprised the environmentalists aren't going insane.

[@duane9166]

They can restore the aquifer by digging precipitation bunds like the Sahara great green wall project and possibly swales too. But they’ll have to build them everywhere, which will require a ton of volunteers and even conscripts if it becomes enough of a priority to the government & people: there’d be no way to do it otherwise, paid labor to cover all that hilly countryside would be impossible

[@tricycle7274]

Imagine when the pot growers in the US start doing this!

[@wakeUPdummies]

I cant get over the use of a gren screen to impose a plain wall.

[@peterist_artyg8936]

Thats and some other reasons, i will never buy agricultural products of Spain