[extropy-chat] Terraforming Earth [WAS: FWD (SK) The ComingClimateCollapse]

Kevin Freels kevinfreels at hotmail.com
Fri Feb 13 15:08:06 UTC 2004


>
> Please Kevin, explain to me what is crazy or mad about
> that idea.  What is the downside?  There is all that
> empty useless land out there that doesn't even support
> much wildlife, never mind human life, simply because it is
> too dry, and we do nothing to fix it.  The doing nothing
> seems mad and crazy to me.

The "mad" and "crazy" was meant more tongue-in-cheek. People who want to do
anything drastic, no matter how good the idea are often "mad" or "crazy".



>
> We wouldn't even *need* to pipe water down from the
> Nile, the Congo or Lake Victoria necessarily, altho those
> might prove to be excellent options.  We could dig an
> enormous north-south canal somewhere along the western
> seaboard of Africa, then pump water from the sea into it,
> perhaps even by harnessing the tides.  Then we could
> arrange for some of it to evaporate, use the fresh water
> and drain the saltier water back out to sea.

OK. This is what I am wanting to know. I guess what I am after are some
actual plans that are realistic and not too expensive. Plans that could be
accomplished with teh same money that we currently spend on foreign aid tot
he same areas of the world.


>
> > What drawbacks may be lingering
> > that could do more harm than good?
>
> None that I can tell.  They might eventually become
> the new China, offering super cheap manufactured
> goods, so that China needs to find other things
> to do with all those people.  But the Chinese are
> intelligent and resourceful, I have all confidence
> in the world that they can find a solution.
>
> I don't see why even the greens would object to
> making the desert bloom.  We could put some forests
> out there, move in some of our endangered species,
> so everyone wins.

Many people would resist such a thing. Otherwise it would have happened
already. They resist because of fear. I think the fear comes from the
possible consequences such as reduced rainfall in other regions, turning
good land into desert  Simply put, there is the general fear of "tampering
with nature". Something like this, if pulled off properly, could very well
change many people's opinions about "tampering with nature". This would not
only benefit the people who get the water, but the entire human population!
This foolish, impossible idea of not fooling with mother nature is the
number two barrier to singularity...right behind religion. If we could pull
off such a thing it would be just plain wonderful.

So I ask, where would the best place to do this be? Where would we get the
greatest impact, for the least amount of work, money, and resistance? I am
going to work on a plan, then we'll get into the spotlight. Maybe we can get
this done!



More information about the extropy-chat mailing list