We humans have a knack for
changing the environment.
Often, these projects have effects
we didn’t plan for.
'Everybody get of the dam.'
Sometimes, it’s disastrous.
And other times,
it gives us energy and agriculture.
But what if we took the hottest desert
in the U.S. and transformed it into a lake?
Death Valley is the hottest place on Earth
with an average summer temperature
of 49°C (120°F ).
It covers 1.3 million hectares (3.4 million acres)
of California and Nevada in the desert.
Flooding it sounds impossible.
But Death Valley periodically floods itself.
And south of Death Valley lies the Salton Sea.
This freshwater lake was accidentally
created in 1905 when engineers
caused the Colorado River to flood.
A lake in the middle of a desert sounds like a great idea.
But the Salton Sea revealed a different reality.
What began as a freshwater lake is now
a toxic and salty body of water.
All the fish died.
And it smells like rotten eggs.
Why?
It had no drainage.
Salt levels increased, oxygen depleted,
and run-off from agriculture poisoned the water.
Not if we're smart about it.
Terraforming this area,
a process of turning a hostile environment
into one more suitable for human life,
would require building a channel
from the Pacific Ocean to Death Valley.
This would be about 480 to 650 km (300-400 mi) long
and would bring water into Death Valley.
But what flows in, must flow out.
So, we would also need to build a second
channel between Death Valley and the Pacific Ocean for water to drain.
This would avoid the stinky mistake of
Salton Sea by allowing water to move more freely between the new 'Death Valley Sea'
and the Pacific Ocean.
And there you go!
Water instead of a desert.
But what would that really change?
First, we’d have to think of a new name for the area.
Death Valley doesn’t seem very appropriate
for a brand new body of water.
But more importantly,
it would be a huge job creator.
The venture capital firm, Y Combinator,
proposed a desert flooding project
in 2018 costing $50 trillion.
The workers would need essential services,
so an economic boost would spread
to surrounding areas as the channels were built.
And the new lakefront property
would eventually bring real estate and tourism.
Small towns might pop-up around the lake,
substantially increasing the current population
of 320 people in the area.
Flooding Death Valley would help in the fight
against climate change.
Building turbines along the channels would
create renewable energy from water flow.
Phytoplankton would grow in this newly
created marine environment,
reducing the carbon dioxide in the air.
It could even offset rising sea levels
by creating space for that water inland.
But should we do it?
While deserts are usually seen as lifeless expanses,
they are important ecosystems
and host a variety of different plants and animals.
We would be displacing many animals
if we flooded Death Valley.
Say goodbye to the famous roadrunner,
as well as bobcats,
gophers, and cottontails.
These animals would need to find new homes.
This becomes a problem when they
decide your backyard looks nice.
Deserts are also extremely valuable for mineral production.
Gypsum, borates, nitrates, potassium,
and salts are all minerals that
build up in deserts when water evaporates.
Lithium, an essential mineral for batteries,
is found in the Atacama desert in Chile.
Electric cars,
cellphones, and other green technology
wouldn't be possible without it.
and flooding them is not a new idea.
Terraforming them into lakes has been debated for over a century.
But for now,
let’s enjoy the beauty and diversity
that deserts like Death Valley
or the Grand Canyon offer us.
Although, there are plans to terraform the entire Sahara desert.
his would require international collaboration
and would have huge impacts,
both good and bad,
around the world.
But that’s a story for another What If.