From: Technotranscendence (neptune@mars.superlink.net)
Date: Sun Mar 26 2000 - 22:41:31 MST
On Sunday, March 26, 2000 9:19 AM Michael S. Lorrey retroman@turbont.net
wrote:
> > Michael is correct here. My exhausted state and my zeal conspired to
> > compell me to make a false statement.:)
> >
> > On the practical side, what do you [anyone] think about the impact of
this
> > poor man's macroengineering project? Would it be a net gain or loss for
> > people living there and in adjoining regions? What would its impact be
in
> > global climate and ecology?
>
> Of course it would take a weather/climate simulation to come up with
> correct answers,
Really?:) Duh! But seriously, even though I've quoted people who've
developed such models -- on this list no less! -- I'm not sure about any
such models' ability to do so. Still, I guess it can't hurt, but it might
attract attention, especially if you have to get time on some of the
supercomputers... or does what seti@home is doing, which might even get more
attention.
> but I would imagine that having a couple thousand more
> square kilometers of open water in Africa at that latitude would
> definitely make the region less arid, and would also cool it down a bit.
One would think.
> Add the Congo project as well, and you will have a major heat sink where
> it would do the most good.
I would stay away from the Congo project for two reasons. One, it would
cost a lot. Two, the region is extremely politically unstable right now and
probably will remain so for the next few years.
> Since the Sahara induced windflows are the
> major engine for the North Atlantic hurricane system, I think it would
> definitely change the dynamic there, though whether for the good or bad
> is questionable. Of the fifty most severe hurricanes of the 20th century
> (energy, velocity, size, wave action, etc), 35 occured BEFORE 1950. Most
> of the deforestation peripheral to the Sahara (therefore adding to the
> heat engine of that body) has occured SINCE 1950, you get the picture...
Correlation or cause? I guess we can test it out.:)
Daniel Ust
http://mars.superlink.net/neptune/
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