Is Atlantropa possible?

Evaporation would lead to a drop in the sea level of up to 200 meters and would create new stretches of land along the coast as well as connecting Europe to Africa by land. The two continents would merge into a single entity.

What if we dammed Gibraltar?

If the Strait of Gibraltar were dammed, as Herman Soergel planned as early as 1929, the loss to the Earth’s atmosphere will result in lowering the Mediterranean Sea artificially by 1. 65 m/year.

Can the Mediterranean be dammed?

The biggest barrage would be built across the Straits of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, separating the Mediterranean from the Atlantic Ocean. As if that were not enough, a third dam would stretch out between Sicily and Tunisia, cutting the Mediterranean in two, with different water levels on either side.

What is Atlantropa project?

Atlantropa would provide land, food, employment, electric power, and, most of all, a new vision for Europe and neighbouring Africa. Pan-European sentiment, seeing the project as a way to unite a wartorn Europe. Eurocentric attitudes to Africa, which was to become united with Europe into “Atlantropa” or Eurafrica.

What would happen if you drained the Mediterranean?

All the water from the drained sea would be redistributed throughout the world’s oceans, causing a 10 m (32 ft) rise in sea levels. Cities like New Orleans, Sacramento, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Shanghai would all be completely underwater.

How deep is the Strait of Gibraltar?

2,953′
Strait of Gibraltar/Max depth

What would happen if the Mediterranean sea was drained?

The water that the Mediterranean Sea needs mainly comes from the Atlantic Ocean, through the Strait of Gibraltar. So, if we can cut off that flow we can, in theory, drain the Sea over time. It would become a very hot desert, probably the hottest region on Earth because it would be so far below sea-level.

What would happen if the Mediterranean was dammed?

How long would it take to drain the Mediterranean?

Some researchers have estimated that the reinstallment of a “normal” Mediterranean Sea basin following the Messinian “Lago Mare” episode took place much more slowly, taking as long as 10,000 years.

Will the Mediterranean disappear?

The Mediterranean Sea, which takes up approximately 970,000 square miles, might be gone from the face of the Earth 50 million years from now. When the two continents meet, most geologists agree that the Mediterranean will close up and become mountainous as the landmasses run into each other.

Is the Mediterranean getting smaller?

It beautifully illustrates the tectonic plates and seafloor topography beyond the coastlines of continents. The Mediterranean Sea is in fact getting smaller as the African and European plates move towards each other.

What is the Atlantropa project?

With Europe in turmoil after World War I, German architect Herman Sörgel became convinced his Atlantropa project was the only way to prevent another conflict. Wikimedia Commons German architect Herman Sörgel proposed building a system of hydroelectric dams that would lower water levels in the Mediterranean and join Europe with Africa.

Who was the architect of Atlantropa?

Deutsches Museum Herman Sörgel (1885-1952), the architect of Atlantropa. Scientists, philosophers, and engineers believed they could solve what they saw as a terminal illness in European society with grand projects. Among them was architect Herman Sörgel.

What happened to the Atlantropa Institute?

In 1960, the Atlantropa Institute shut its doors for good. Since his death, Atlantropa has been relegated to the realm of science fiction. Phillip K. Dick’s alternate history The Man in the High Castle depicts a world in which Axis powers won World War II and dammed the Mediterranean.

How would the Atlantropa change the world?

Instead, water would be redirected to the Sahara, forming vast freshwater lakes and turning the scorching desert into farmland. In his Atlantropa, white Europeans would naturally rule as the dominant race, using black Africans as a strictly segregated source of labor.