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Looks like the biggest soft target in the world and destroying the dam would make it possible to wipe out millions upon millions of lives in a single action.

vincnetas 7y ago
was thinking the same. would need to build a redundant second dam.
- rtkwe 7y ago
  Not really. This project kind of happened naturally millions of years ago and when it refilled it's estimated it took on the order of 10000 years [0] to refill. The Straight isn't big enough to get the giant wave of water it'd be more like a long slow flood for most of the people living along the new shoreline. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood edit: added link for [0] I missed initially.
Razengan 7y ago
It's a shame we cannot consider megaprojects like these because of concerns like that.
jetrink 7y ago
The Mediterranean Sea has a surface area of 2.5 million sqkm, while the Strait of Gibraltar is only 14 km wide. If the Med were an Olympic-sized swimming pool, the strait would be hose 4cm in diameter[1]. Even if the dam were built such that the entire structure could be destroyed at once in a terrorist attack, the flooding would be gradual and there would be time for people to evacuate to higher ground. 1. Assuming 200m elevation difference between the two bodies of water
- fnord123 7y ago
  Given these calculations, I guess you're right. The surface area facing the Atlantic with air on other side would be 200m x 14000m which would probably require such a width of concrete to be structurally sound that only the largest payloads would make so much as a relative dent in it.
  - isostatic 7y ago
    And those payloads (likely nukes or orbital bombardment) could kill far more people by being aimed at a city.
    - ceejayoz 7y ago
      Perhaps. We saw in 9/11, though, that raw death toll really isn't the thing that matters. Having to evacuate hundreds of millions of people from the entire Mediterranean would cost trillions; even a couple million Syrians relocating has caused political upheaval.
  - rtkwe 7y ago
    It naturally happened about 6-7 million years ago when the Straight of Gibraltar was naturally dammed then reconnected. It took an estimated 10,000 years to refill the Mediterranean. [0] From that we do know that it's probably not the best plan though. The water in the Med would become even saltier and might eventually completely stop supporting life. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood
- jacobush 7y ago
  The sheer panic and economic meltdown would mean deaths. Also imagine new mega cities, maybe New Paris and new London, disappearing under water. Sounds stupid.
Theodores 7y ago
You could nuke the Straits of Gibraltar from below the water to create a crater that formed a double dam, closing the Mediterranean sea for the water levels to rise and to flood all the coastal cities. Admittedly the nuclear weapon would have to be pretty big but the USA has thousands of the things as does Russia. So as we speak, right now, and for the last few decades, you could say that the area already is 'the biggest soft target'.

vincnetas 7y ago

was thinking the same. would need to build a redundant second dam.

rtkwe 7y ago
Not really. This project kind of happened naturally millions of years ago and when it refilled it's estimated it took on the order of 10000 years [0] to refill. The Straight isn't big enough to get the giant wave of water it'd be more like a long slow flood for most of the people living along the new shoreline. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood edit: added link for [0] I missed initially.

Razengan 7y ago

It's a shame we cannot consider megaprojects like these because of concerns like that.

jetrink 7y ago

The Mediterranean Sea has a surface area of 2.5 million sqkm, while the Strait of Gibraltar is only 14 km wide. If the Med were an Olympic-sized swimming pool, the strait would be hose 4cm in diameter[1]. Even if the dam were built such that the entire structure could be destroyed at once in a terrorist attack, the flooding would be gradual and there would be time for people to evacuate to higher ground. 1. Assuming 200m elevation difference between the two bodies of water

fnord123 7y ago
Given these calculations, I guess you're right. The surface area facing the Atlantic with air on other side would be 200m x 14000m which would probably require such a width of concrete to be structurally sound that only the largest payloads would make so much as a relative dent in it.
- isostatic 7y ago
  And those payloads (likely nukes or orbital bombardment) could kill far more people by being aimed at a city.
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    Perhaps. We saw in 9/11, though, that raw death toll really isn't the thing that matters. Having to evacuate hundreds of millions of people from the entire Mediterranean would cost trillions; even a couple million Syrians relocating has caused political upheaval.
- rtkwe 7y ago
  It naturally happened about 6-7 million years ago when the Straight of Gibraltar was naturally dammed then reconnected. It took an estimated 10,000 years to refill the Mediterranean. [0] From that we do know that it's probably not the best plan though. The water in the Med would become even saltier and might eventually completely stop supporting life. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood
jacobush 7y ago
The sheer panic and economic meltdown would mean deaths. Also imagine new mega cities, maybe New Paris and new London, disappearing under water. Sounds stupid.

Theodores 7y ago

You could nuke the Straits of Gibraltar from below the water to create a crater that formed a double dam, closing the Mediterranean sea for the water levels to rise and to flood all the coastal cities. Admittedly the nuclear weapon would have to be pretty big but the USA has thousands of the things as does Russia. So as we speak, right now, and for the last few decades, you could say that the area already is 'the biggest soft target'.