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This is awesome! Some people don't like having a Plan B along these lines because they think it distracts with the standard approach of emission reduction. In r

by Jun8 8y ago

This is awesome! Some people don't like having a Plan B along these lines because they think it distracts with the standard approach of emission reduction. In reality, for something this important (i.e. Keter level destruction event) we should pursue all threads simultaneously. "If we don't act soon, we'll end up in "Phase 3" and be too late for both of these strategies to work." In fact, let's at least start brainstorming about plans to deal with Phase 3, too. The topic of desert flooding has been thought about quite a bit, e.g. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara_Sea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara_Sea and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qattara_Depression_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qattara_Depression_Project.

ergothus 8y ago
It's been interesting to watch my own thinking evolve: 20 years ago: "I'm sure technology will figure out how to reduce emissions. Sequestering tech is neat, but will only take off if the end product is itself useful in bulk" 10 years ago: "Sequestering tech will take too long and has too many potential complications to rely on, we need to get serious about reduction." Now: "We're screwed and it's only a matter of how much people end up suffering. I'm very skeptical of sequestering tech, but we need anything that works"
soperj 8y ago
>standard approach of emission reduction With how well that's been going, I'm wondering why they even need a plan b...
stephengillie 8y ago
> Keter level For the curious: http://www.scp-wiki.net/object-classes http://www.scp-wiki.net/object-classes What Would Dr Bright Do?
gregcrv 8y ago
Desert flooding even happened before by mistake in the US: It was not long before the Colorado River began to wreak havoc with its erratic flows. In autumn, the river would drop below the level of the canal inlet, and temporary brush diversion dams had to be constructed. In early 1905, heavy floods destroyed the headworks of the canal, and water began to flow uncontrolled down the canal towards the Salton Sink. On August 9, the entire flow of the Colorado swerved into the canal and began to flood the bottom of the Imperial Valley. In a desperate gamble to close the breach, crews of the Southern Pacific Railroad, whose tracks ran through the valley, attempted to dam the Colorado above the canal, only to see their work demolished by a flash flood.[197] It took seven attempts, more than $3 million, and two years for the railroad, the CDC, and the federal government to permanently block the breach and send the Colorado on its natural course to the gulf – but not before part of the Imperial Valley was flooded under a 45-mile-long (72 km) lake, today's Salton Sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River
aoner 8y ago
Curious, how does desert flooding fit into this? It's basically energy creation using hydro or am I missing the point here? Edit: Never mind, missed the YC dessert flooding article: >> This system of oases would be used to grow phytoplankton. With additional desalinated water, it could irrigate the surrounding area to propagate vegetation as well as provide fresh water to nearby communities. These oases would operate similarly to the ocean phytoplankton cultivation concept but executed in a relatively controlled and, thereby, safer environment than in the ocean. Unlike BECCS, the oases would absorb CO2 via phytoplankton growth - phytoplankton produce biomass faster than agriculture, reducing the necessary surface area by almost 4x - which would be periodically harvested to extend the length of sequestration and set up downstream use as fertilizer or other higher value products. This would be the largest infrastructure project undertaken, making its scale the main challenge.

by Jun8 8y ago

ergothus 8y ago

It's been interesting to watch my own thinking evolve: 20 years ago: "I'm sure technology will figure out how to reduce emissions. Sequestering tech is neat, but will only take off if the end product is itself useful in bulk" 10 years ago: "Sequestering tech will take too long and has too many potential complications to rely on, we need to get serious about reduction." Now: "We're screwed and it's only a matter of how much people end up suffering. I'm very skeptical of sequestering tech, but we need anything that works"

soperj 8y ago

>standard approach of emission reduction With how well that's been going, I'm wondering why they even need a plan b...

stephengillie 8y ago

> Keter level For the curious: http://www.scp-wiki.net/object-classes http://www.scp-wiki.net/object-classes What Would Dr Bright Do?

gregcrv 8y ago

Desert flooding even happened before by mistake in the US: It was not long before the Colorado River began to wreak havoc with its erratic flows. In autumn, the river would drop below the level of the canal inlet, and temporary brush diversion dams had to be constructed. In early 1905, heavy floods destroyed the headworks of the canal, and water began to flow uncontrolled down the canal towards the Salton Sink. On August 9, the entire flow of the Colorado swerved into the canal and began to flood the bottom of the Imperial Valley. In a desperate gamble to close the breach, crews of the Southern Pacific Railroad, whose tracks ran through the valley, attempted to dam the Colorado above the canal, only to see their work demolished by a flash flood.[197] It took seven attempts, more than $3 million, and two years for the railroad, the CDC, and the federal government to permanently block the breach and send the Colorado on its natural course to the gulf – but not before part of the Imperial Valley was flooded under a 45-mile-long (72 km) lake, today's Salton Sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River

aoner 8y ago

Curious, how does desert flooding fit into this? It's basically energy creation using hydro or am I missing the point here? Edit: Never mind, missed the YC dessert flooding article: >> This system of oases would be used to grow phytoplankton. With additional desalinated water, it could irrigate the surrounding area to propagate vegetation as well as provide fresh water to nearby communities. These oases would operate similarly to the ocean phytoplankton cultivation concept but executed in a relatively controlled and, thereby, safer environment than in the ocean. Unlike BECCS, the oases would absorb CO2 via phytoplankton growth - phytoplankton produce biomass faster than agriculture, reducing the necessary surface area by almost 4x - which would be periodically harvested to extend the length of sequestration and set up downstream use as fertilizer or other higher value products. This would be the largest infrastructure project undertaken, making its scale the main challenge.