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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,
by 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 agoGiven 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 agoAnd those payloads (likely nukes or orbital bombardment) could kill far more people by being aimed at a city.
- ceejayoz 7y agoPerhaps. 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 agoIt 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 agoThe sheer panic and economic meltdown would mean deaths. Also imagine new mega cities, maybe New Paris and new London, disappearing under water. Sounds stupid.