Global Warming

Global warming is causing havoc around the world and it is undeniable that average temperatures are rising. There is still disagreement on which the main factors causing such rise might be. CO2 emissions play certainly a role in creating the problem, but they seem to be only one of the factors. Therefore, CO2 reduction could not be the conclusive solution.

In our opinion, there is a way to limit the effects of Global Warming which is simple and highly feasible.
The solution is: let’s flood the Qattara Depression (Arabic: منخفض القطارة‎‎ Munḫafaḍ al-Qaṭṭārah) with salty water coming from the Mediterranean Sea and let the evaporation caused by the intense heat cool by a degree our planet.
If the effects are positives, similar measure could be applied to other parts of the Sahara Desert and other deserts around the world.

The Qattara Depression lies below sea level in a large plain scattered with salt pans, sand dunes and salt marshes. It has the lowest point in Africa at −133 metres below sea level, and covers 19,605 square kilometers, that is twice as large as Lebanon.

During World War II, the depression shaped the 1st and 2nd Battles of El Alamein, as it posed considerable obstacles to the advancements of armored vehicles. Axis and Allied forces built their defenses there and some of those defenses are still visible, including large minefields.

Several proposals had been tabled since 1917 to create a massive hydroelectric plant there. Such proposals are mostly based on the construction of a large tunnel, or channel, being excavated from the sea of 55 to 80 kilometers, depending on the route chosen to the Mediterranean Sea, to bring seawater into the area. Water would flow into a series of hydro-electric turbines which would generate electricity.
The very hot weather will create a massive cloud of evaporating water raising from the basin into the sky and, because of the evaporation, more water will flow into the depression, thus forming a constant source of energy. Eventually this would result in a massive deposit of salt which will be collected and used.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, several proposals to flood the area were made by Friedrich Bassler and his Joint Venture, Qattara, by a group of mainly German companies. They wanted to make use of peaceful nuclear explosions to build a tunnel, drastically reducing construction costs compared with conventional methods. This project proposed to use 213 devices, with yields of 1 to 1.5 megatons detonated at depths of 100 to 500 metres (330 to 1,640 ft). The Egyptian government, understandably, backed off on hearing about atomic weapons.
Scientists keep on putting forward other options but now we have a new urgency: such project should not be based on the production of electricity only. We must slow down global warming and stops desertification of large areas of our planet. Thus, the evaporating water will cause rainfall, which will cool down the air and threes and plants should be let grow freely, because of their capacity of absorbing CO2.