Earth's Climate Changes in Tune with Eccentric Orbital Rhythms

Scientific American.com ^ | December 22, 2006 | By David Biello

[patton]

Well, that is a bit ambitious. LOL.

Why don't you just install a pipe from the med to the dead sea, and see how much that changes the weather?

[NicknamedBob]

Or dam the straits of Gibraltar, or rebuild Lake Chad?

Or bridge the Aleutian Strait, or build a tunnel under the Atlantic?


Basically because my interest is in space, and human exploration and colonization of it.

[patton]

If you build a bridge over the Alutian Straits, I an't driving on it. Two different tectonic plates - sooner or later, it will fall down.

[Porterville]

"that energy budget"

So, global climate needs a credit card now? Stupid garbage.

[steelyourfaith]

[NicknamedBob]

"If you build a bridge over the Aleutian Straits, I ain't driving on it. Two different tectonic plates - sooner or later, it will fall down."

Just park your car in Southern California.

Sooner or later, you'll get to the Aleutian trench, and you won't need to use the bridge.

[Robert A Cook PE]

I vote for a big pipe (downhill) from the Med to Dead Sea, turning turbines on the way down to make power, then let the water evaporate at the bottom then condense into drinking and (a little irrigation water) - what doesn't evaporate partially refills the dead sea.....

Same with Quatarra Depression?

...

Now, about that launching icebergs bits and bytes into deserts. Robt wonders about the reentry of large, copper wrapped wire-enclosed ice masses onto the desert at high velocities.... Would the ice-sropped-upon desert residers complain?

[NicknamedBob]

Death Valley is considerably below sea level as well.

"Would the ice-dropped-upon desert residers complain?"

Hopefully, no. Explosive charges would be detonated at selected altitudes to bring the irrigation delivery to its destination as rain. Additionally, since the delivery is a requested one, persons who could perhaps be injured will have an opportunity to clear the area.

If they get hit with a bit of de-orbiting junk, it's on their own heads.

Not sure about the copper. It might be safer to use aluminum foil. We would have a period of time for testing and developing the proper techniques.

(It's a great fire-fighting possibility too. Australia would benefit enormously.)

[patton]

You are going to need MUCH bigger capacitors than any I have seen.

[patton]

wiki -

The area is composed of sand dunes and salt lakes in a tear drop shaped formation with the point of the in a tear drop shaped formation with the point of the drop facing east and the broad deep area at the south west end. The large size of the Quattra Depression and the fact that it falls to a depth of 132 m below mean sea level has led to several proposals to create a massive hydro-electric project in northern Egypt rivaling the Aswan High Dam. The proposals all call for a large channel or tunnel being excavated from the Quattra due north about 80 km to the Mediterranean Sea. Water would flow from the channel into a series of hydro-electric penstocks which would release the water at 90 m below sea level. Because the Quattra is in a very hot dry region with very little cloud cover the water released at the 90 m level would spread out from the release point across the basin until evaporating from solar influx. Because the depression is so deep and broad, a great deal of water would be let in to maintain the artificial salt sea at the 90 m level and as the water evaporates more sea water would be sent through the penstocks to generate more electricity.

[NicknamedBob]

"You are going to need MUCH bigger capacitors than any I have seen."

Yes. And the acceleration ramp will have to be over a hundred miles in length, at least.

I have no idea how wide the throat of the launch facility would be, but it would be exceedingly large. Perhaps the acceleration "hooks" into the ice cargo will run on electromagnetic tracks and release the cargo at the end of the track, diverting away to decelerate as if the opening of the muzzle were a blunderbuss.

It may also need to have a partially evacuated tube to reduce air friction inside the launch tube, with a special-purpose cover to escape through at the end.

Another option, perhaps a necessary one, might be to fire lasers along the track of the vessel or cargo load to heat the air in its path, causing it to expand.

Orchestrating this might be like running a lightning bolt in reverse. First the charge would be let into the capacitor bank, or circuit rings, cascading as the vessel accelerates, then transferring to the laser banks to heat the air just like a thunderclap run backwards.

[Professional Engineer]

Keppler's Fault.

[patton]

We use a helium tunnel at the range.

[Mike Darancette]

It's not going to be doomsday, end of the world, but a rise in sea level would affect a very large percentage of humankind."

Deniers and heretics. /sarc

[NicknamedBob]

At the required level of activity to pay for the investment, I wouldn't want to bother with helium. I'm thinking maybe a cap of ice, and just evacuate the tunnel as much as practical, then brute-force everything else until you can get an effective launch.

Start with the Australian Outback. Set up some locations for irrigation, and deliver the water on a regular schedule.

Then move further, the Gobi and Sahara. The Sahara is three and a half million square miles of desert. It was once a breadbasket, and it could be again.

After these things have been set up and proved effective, (and paid for the cost of the infrastructure), move on to launching spaceships into orbit, or if decided on by that stage, ice loads to Mars.

One purpose in sending ice to Mars is to deflate the argument that this new source of irrigation water will cause an ocean level rise.

More atmosphere and water for Mars could be found among the gas giants and the comets, but first we'd have to launch huge ships to go after it. We could do that too.

Terraforming Earth and Mars will require incredible effort. This plan at least gives a means of paying for it.

Al Gore talks about possible problems from global warming. I propose we do something about it.

[patton]

Yes, but my pipe would do alot about it, for far less money (actually, it would earn money, due to power generation). And the refilling of the dead sea would bring rain to great swathes of desert.

BTW, is is very considerate of you to fix our typo's in your replies. Thanks!

[NicknamedBob]

I have no objection to such a project. I was merely concentrating on that litany of interconnected works which lead to a presence in space:

A launch facility not dependent on enormous quantities of rocket fuel.
A means of recovering investment costs, (irrigation).
Terraforming of two worlds.
Eventual recovery and utilization of an entire continent.
A massive presence in space, affording the opportunity to do remarkable things, including protecting the planet from errant asteroids.

[patton]

Well, the biggest problem you have is that the poles are the worst places to launch - no angular velosity.

[NicknamedBob]

That's true, but a singular advantage that they offer is the 24 hour rotation that brings all destinations into range.

You can send ships to Mars, Venus, or into orbit around Earth or the moon.

It just depends on how much ooomph you put into the shove. We would undoubtedly need a few nuclear reactors.

Another place those reactors would be useful is in orbit. With plentiful ice available for reaction fuel, a nuclear rocket engine could move easily throughout the solar system.

We could have thousands of ships up there within the first decade of operation. They could bring over the asteroid we want to use as an anchor for the "beanstalk."