A harebrained scheme to flood deserts, create ecosystems out of dead zones, sequester carbon, and create new economically productive geographies — through “seaflooding”. Take places like the Dead Sea, which is already well below sea level, and fill it up by pipelining in water from the Med or the Red Sea.

All of this would create a much bigger sea where algae could grow, fish could feed on the algae, and birds could feed on the fish. Plants would grow on the shoreline with the added moisture, and more animals would come… It would transform a desert into a new Mediterranean.

This, of course, would not just create a thriving biological environment. It would create amazing economic opportunities for more agriculture and more tourism. These would justify more infrastructure, which would further increase the wealth of the area.

I’m a pretty big skeptic about terraforming as a realistic endeavor. Not only on grounds of costs or feasibility, but on the fear of tampering with pre-existing natural systems. The Ian Malcolm in me is hesitant to confuse feasibility and viability. Just because it’s plausible, doesn’t mean a) it will work or b) it won’t have even worse second-order effects. It’s well worth the debate and thought experiment, though!