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2010-01-08 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

The more things remain the same, the more they change: 2nd year of draught in Middle East

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Posted by 2010-01-08 12:48|| || Front Page|| [11142 views ] Top

#1 Drought in the desert, bitter cold in the Midwest in January - signs and portents, my friends. Signs and portents.

Posted by SteveS 2010-01-08 14:26|| 2010-01-08 14:26|| Front Page Top

#2 Many years ago, in grammar school, I was told that sheep destroy a land, they bite the plants so short that they die, and drought is a direct result of sheep grazing.
Cause and effect needs to be taught those herdsmen, Goats do NOT kill the plants and are easier on the land. Raise goats, Not sheep, and no drought/desert results.
I was taught the Sahara Desert was once a grassy plain, before nomads raised sheep and killed it.

PS sheep's teeth wear away rapidly because they grind up a lot of dirt when they graze, there are therefore NO old sheep, they either starve(No teeth) Or die from gum abscesses.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2010-01-08 15:12|| 2010-01-08 15:12|| Front Page Top

#3 I was taught the Sahara Desert was once a grassy plain

The weather was quite different back then. Can't blame it all on the damn sheepherders.
Lush Sahara link

Posted by SteveS 2010-01-08 15:51|| 2010-01-08 15:51|| Front Page Top

#4 We could once again make the Sahara lush and solve the claimed rising sea level problem by building a canal to flood the Qatar depression (about the size of France and perhaps a 1/4 of the Sahara desert), which is up to 200 meters below sea level.

Israel and Jordan have already agree to do this with the Dead Sea. So there are no real technical issues.

The fact this isn't under consideration is because a solution to rising sea levels would quash most of the GW hysteria.

Posted by phil_b 2010-01-08 16:49|| 2010-01-08 16:49|| Front Page Top

#5 You have drought and then you have water management issues, and nobody approaching this from a cooperative and rational basis.

Good luck, folks. Get your mindset upgraded and you will make it ok.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2010-01-08 17:08|| 2010-01-08 17:08|| Front Page Top

#6 eat more beef

Posted by bman 2010-01-08 18:18|| 2010-01-08 18:18|| Front Page Top

#7 In the mid 90s I chatted with a senior Turkish official who commented mildly that Turkey would dominate the middle east when they were ready to, because they could control the flow of water in major rivers on which other countries are dependent.

Of course, they didn't take into account the ability of JDAMs to dismantle concrete dams. But the point about the value of water there was well taken.

Posted by lotp 2010-01-08 18:50|| 2010-01-08 18:50|| Front Page Top

#8 We could once again make the Sahara lush and solve the claimed rising sea level problem by building a canal to flood the Qatar depression...

How would flooding this depression with sea water make the Sahara lush?

Posted by Waldemar Sneath8944 2010-01-08 20:22|| 2010-01-08 20:22|| Front Page Top

#9 Seaweed and Sushi?

Posted by 3dc 2010-01-08 22:01|| 2010-01-08 22:01|| Front Page Top

#10 Of course with a 200 meters head of water you drive it through giant reverse osmosis filters for pure h2o

Posted by 3dc 2010-01-08 22:04|| 2010-01-08 22:04|| Front Page Top

#11 How would flooding this depression with sea water make the Sahara lush?

Evaporation levels would be very high. creating clouds and then rain. Rainfall would likely be enough to support savannah grasslands.

Posted by phil_b 2010-01-08 22:28|| 2010-01-08 22:28|| Front Page Top

#12 Why, wouldn't that be manmade climate change? ;-)

Posted by Don Vito Uleash 2010-01-08 23:34|| 2010-01-08 23:34|| Front Page Top

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