The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion

Re:The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion by ars on Monday June 01, 2015 @02:03PM (#9640774)

There's a TON of room for more farmland. You don't have to use some complicated chemical method.

For example make energy cheap enough, and we can desalinate enough water to re-green the Sahara desert.

That's not something we can do today, but the future is bright, and not limited.

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Re:The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion by logfromblammo on Monday June 01, 2015 @03:58PM (#9641687)

Or skip the desalinated water and grow Salicornia bigelovii with straight seawater or runoff water or aquaculture wastewater.

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Re:The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion by schiffern on Monday June 01, 2015 @09:21PM (#9643270)

>make energy cheap enough and we can desalinate enough water to re-green the Sahara desert

So all we're waiting for is "power too cheap to meter", eh? :D

Planting trees can also green deserts[1], and does so without perpetual future energy inputs from desalination. This makes sense when you realize that plants cause rain.[2] The reverse is also true - cutting down forests creates deserts.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reCemnJmkzI

[2] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v496/n7445/full/nature1...

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