Thursday, April 12, 2012

Coping with Global Warming

I watched a video on Thorium Molten Salt reactors today and it seemed to me that this is part of the solution to our energy problem and to global warming.  I have thought about terraforming the world's deserts and my first thought was to desalinate seawater to water the Sahara.  I originally thought that solar power might be the best way to desalinate the water for the Sahara, but now I think thorium is the proper solution.

Thorium reactors are safer and thorium is plentiful, so we have a cheap energy source which will not produce greenhouse gases.  Contrasted to conventional nuclear power plants, thorium leaves a solvable waste problem.

So we can build reactors on the African coast and produce clean water for agriculture which can be pumped to the Sahara.  Over time the Sahara can be converted into a rich region with agriculture, forests and human habitation.  With enough of the Sahara terraformed there will be additional water vapor entering the atmosphere and there will be increased rainfall which will amplify the effect and spread the good fortune.

As the Sahara is converted it seems to me that this increased biomass will help to fight the warming effects of the greenhouse gases.  Ultimately we can change the destiny of earth from ecological disaster from global warming into abundance.

Will we conquer our ecological problems or continue to keep our heads stuck in the sand?

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