What If We Drained the Mediterranean?

[Music] imagine the Mediterranean Sea is disappearing old shipwrecks are rearing their ugly heads as the water drains around them and Mediterranean cruises are becoming increasingly disappointing but for once this isn't the result of climate change we're doing it on purpose if we blocked off the Mediterraneans main water source from the Atlantic Ocean we'd essentially be creating a new desert that connects Europe with Africa this new supercontinent would not only make international trade easier but it could also provide some much-needed renewable energy resources but what kind of environmental impact would come with removing an entire body of water how could we use the new land and what happened last time someone tried something like this this is what if and here's what would happen if we drained the Mediterranean if this whole idea sounds a little familiar it's because it was proposed back in the 1920s by a German architect named Herman zorga as intriguing as circle's idea was the project never really took off because for one thing there wasn't enough concrete in the world to build a dam large enough to block off the Mediterranean and on top of that Germany was crippled by losing the first world war but times have changed and here we are desperate for renewable energy solutions so why not give this idea another shot what could possibly go wrong draining the Mediterranean would be no small feat it has a surface area of approximately two-and-a-half million square kilometers and an average depth of 1500 meters we wouldn't drain this body of water the same way that you would drain a bathtub instead we would have to focus on blocking off its intake of the water coming in from the Atlantic Ocean you see the water in the Mediterranean is evaporative meaning that more water evaporates from it then flows in from rivers and streams the water that the Mediterranean Sea needs mainly comes from the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar so if we can cut off that flow we can in theory drain the sea over time blocking the water flowing in from the Atlantic would cause the Mediterranean Sea to decrease by one point six five meters each year but we wouldn't want to drain the entire thing dry instead we could split the sea into a couple of different water levels with the middle one being completely dry land this would allow us to install a hydroelectric dam at the Strait of Gibraltar to produce some much-needed renewable energy for Europe and Africa renewable energy is always nice but would it be worth it in this case sure we have a whole new stretch of land to develop between Europe and Africa but most people wouldn't want to move there it would be a very hot desert probably the hottest on earth because it would be so far below sea level at its deepest points with canyons reaching around 5000 metres below sea level temperatures could become close to 80 degrees Celsius to put that in perspective the hottest temperature ever recorded on earth was 54 degrees Celsius and because of water from the Mediterranean Sea is so salty the uncovered land would just be salt flats and useless for agriculture soon the surrounding land would become desert as well southern Europe and Turkey would start to dry up and as a result rainfall would decline which could significantly impact agriculture in Europe any animals that live near the Mediterranean wouldn't have to choose between migrating away from the coast or dying because the remaining water would be too salty and shallow and the negative effects wouldn't just be limited to our new super continent all the water from the drained sea would be redistributed through the world's oceans causing a 10-meter rise in sea levels cities like New Orleans Sacramento Amsterdam Copenhagen and Shanghai would all be completely under water so unless we want to be responsible for that we're probably best leaving the Mediterranean as it is if we really want to figure out a way to connect our continents there's got to be a better way to do it but that's a story for another what if [Music]

Channel: What If

Views: 1,263,341

Rating: 4.8582892 out of 5

Keywords: what if, scifi, science documentary, what if scenario, mysteries, what if we drained the mediterranean, mediterranean sea, mediterranean documentary, earth, environmental crisis, what if the mediterranean disappeared, world geography, draining the oceans, natural disasters, mediterranean climate, civil engineering, europe, atlantropa, crazy engineering, engineering, crazy ideas, mediterranean, what if humanity, strait of gibraltar, gibraltar, drain the ocean, italy, possible worlds

Id: 4ARfDC_OcUE

Length: 5min 33sec (333 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 16 2020