- 2 months ago
Scientists have uncovered evidence that modern Australia may be sitting above the remains of an ancient continent buried deep below. This hidden mass could explain some of the continent’s strangest geological features—and reveal a forgotten chapter of Earth’s history. But the real mystery is how much of this “second Australia” still exists beneath the surface.
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00:00Take a look at Australia from space. Nothing unusual, right?
00:03But now, focus on the northern territory of the continent.
00:07If we imagine it through magnetic sensors, we notice...
00:10Whoa! See that? An unknown, strange thing that mirrors the outline of Australia itself.
00:16It looks almost the same, but smaller.
00:19It's like a twin of the continent hidden deep within it.
00:22But what is it? Volcanic lakes? Gold deposits?
00:26No. It's something far stranger.
00:29This is a magnetic anomaly.
00:32Yeah, you're probably confused, but let's find out what's going on with Australia.
00:37So, there are devices called magnetometers.
00:40They measure magnetic fields, and geologists use them for many things,
00:44including exploring the interior of our planet.
00:47The magnetic field comes from various metals and minerals buried deep underground.
00:51It travels upwards, and scientists' sensors detect it.
00:54One day, they equipped aircraft with these magnetometers and flew over the northern part of Australia.
01:01When they processed the data and identified a magnetic anomaly with clear geological boundaries,
01:07whatever lay in Australia's interior was emitting magnetic signals and followed the outline of the entire continent.
01:14And because these signals come from deep rocks, scientists think that valuable resources, including minerals and metals, might be hidden
01:22there.
01:23But beyond potential resources, what else does this tell us?
01:27Inside these rocks, there could be volcanic materials formed over one and a half billion years ago.
01:34Minerals that formed long before the dinosaurs appeared.
01:37This entire mass of material could tell scientists about our planet's history and how the Australian continent was formed.
01:44Okay, that sounds cool, but why are those changes in the magnetic field they detected called an anomaly?
01:51Why is it magnetic in the first place?
01:53And how does this magnetism work?
01:56To understand, we first need to grasp what Earth's magnetic field is.
02:00And this is one of the most amazing and mysterious things in the world.
02:05The magnetic field is invisible.
02:08Yet without it, we couldn't exist.
02:10So, in simple terms, Earth's magnetic field is our protective blanket, shielding us from cosmic radiation, charged solar particles, and
02:19the solar wind.
02:21Without the magnetic field, our Earth would be like Mars, a barren desert where life most likely couldn't have emerged.
02:28But where does it come from?
02:30The magnetic field is generated deep within our planet, where molten nickel and iron create electrical currents.
02:37Combined with our planet's rotation, these electrical flows generate the magnetic field that protects us.
02:44In addition, minerals and metals inside rocks can produce magnetic fields, too.
02:49But what exactly is this force?
02:52Take two magnets from your fridge and try to push them together.
02:56Feel that resistance?
02:57That repulsion happens because their magnetic fields are interacting.
03:02In some places, this magnetic field can be weaker, and in others, stronger.
03:07This means that deep within the planet, in those locations, there are geological processes happening that change the stable behavior
03:14of the magnetic field.
03:16These places are what we call magnetic anomalies.
03:19One of them lies beneath the northern part of Australia.
03:23However, the magnetic field is more than just a blanket.
03:27Thanks to it, many awesome things happen.
03:29For example, a compass needle always points north because the Earth's south magnetic pole is located there, attracting the magnet.
03:37Don't confuse the geographic and magnetic poles.
03:40The geographic north pole is in the north, near the magnetic south pole.
03:45It's not just humans who use the magnetic field for navigation.
03:49Animals can do it, too, without any instruments or technology.
03:53Some animals sense the magnetic field, and this superpower is called magnetoreception.
03:58This ability helps animals during migration.
04:02That is, they know where north and south are, so when it gets cold, they can fly to where it's
04:08warm.
04:09For some turtles, magnetoreception helps them remember the location of feeding areas.
04:14Pigeons have a unique perception of the magnetic field, too.
04:17In simple words, the magnetic field is also a giant navigation system for many creatures on Earth.
04:23Few people know, but we actually have a second magnetic field.
04:28In 2018, scientists published research describing how ocean tides create another magnetic layer.
04:35But why hadn't we noticed it before?
04:38Our main magnetic field, generated by the planet's core, is very strong.
04:43Its radiation extends into space and is easy to detect.
04:46The magnetic field from tides is almost 20,000 times weaker.
04:51How does this field affect the main one?
04:54What are its properties?
04:55Scientists continue to study these questions.
04:58Also, the magnetic field can control the brain.
05:02In 2017, scientists used magnetic fields to remotely activate brain cells in mice.
05:08Magnetic forces were directed at the parts of the mouse brain responsible for body movement.
05:12In this way, the scientists could make the rodent run, freeze, and turn around.
05:18But don't think this was done just for fun.
05:21Experiments like this can be very helpful for humanity.
05:24If you can make a small animal move, imagine what other changes might be possible in the brain.
05:30Improving psychological state, for example.
05:32Potentially, you could instantly switch from a bad, depressive mood to a happy one.
05:37This technology could help treat many diseases related to the brain and nervous system.
05:42You might think that such a technology could control you, but don't worry.
05:47Magnetic fields pass through your tissues with almost no effect.
05:50But then, how did they manage to control those mice?
05:54Scientists simply implanted tiny magnetic particles into the animal's brains.
05:59Under the influence of a magnetic field, these particles heated up and triggered the activation of neurons.
06:04But the coolest thing happens when the magnetic field collides with the solar wind, generating electrical currents and magnetic forces.
06:12At the moment, a true cosmic storm happens in the sky, and we see it in the form of beautiful
06:18auroras.
06:19Such storms are not only beautiful, but also destructive, as they can disrupt the operation of satellites and electronic devices.
06:28Sometimes, this can lead to minor glitches in your GPS or internet connection on your phone.
06:33But there have been cases where magnetic storms were so massive, they led to catastrophic consequences.
06:39One of them occurred in 1859 and is known as the Carrington Event.
06:45On September 1st, 1859, an amateur sky watcher, Richard Carrington, noticed a sudden bright white flash on the sun.
06:54It turned out this flash was a massive ejection of plasma from the sun's upper atmosphere.
07:00About 17 hours later, part of this energy reached our planet and struck as a powerful storm.
07:06All telegraph systems at the time went down.
07:09The Northern Lights were visible not only to residents of northern regions, but also in the tropics.
07:15For many people who had never heard of or seen the Northern Lights, this was a real surprise.
07:21What must they have thought?
07:23The end of the world?
07:24Unknown forces from space?
07:26Many were undoubtedly shocked by the spectacle.
07:29But the real shock was inside major cities.
07:32Communication between telegraph systems was stopped.
07:35The world was plunged into an eerie silence.
07:38Sparks flew from telegraph machines, causing fires in some places.
07:42People couldn't send or receive important information.
07:46Fortunately, the consequences weren't too catastrophic.
07:49Communication technologies were just beginning to develop at that time.
07:53But what would happen if such an event occurred today?
07:58Many experts have estimated that the damage from a similar storm in the United States could reach up to $2
08:04.6 trillion.
08:06The entire Internet would shut down.
08:09For a while, we would lose access to our messaging apps, our banks, our navigation systems.
08:15Contactless payments, airports, train stations, and much more would stop working.
08:19We would be cut off not only from the Internet but also from electricity for a long time.
08:24The entire planet would be plunged into darkness and silence.
08:28A global economic and humanitarian crisis would begin.
08:32It's hard to imagine the damage that AI would suffer.
08:35But don't worry.
08:36The good news is that storms like this happen roughly once every 500 years, and smaller ones about every 50
08:43years.
08:44But these aren't precise forecasts, since it's quite difficult for scientists to predict the sun's behavior.
08:50Besides, we wouldn't just sit in shock after such an event.
08:53We would immediately begin dealing with the consequences.
08:56The impact on modern civilization from such a storm would be significant, but we would surely recover quickly.
09:06Australia has five major cities, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
09:12Every one of them sits in the southern half of the continent.
09:16The northern 40%, an area bigger than most countries on Earth, has none.
09:22There are towns up there, along with ports, mines, and harbors.
09:25But not one major city.
09:28Not a single one.
09:30That northern part of the continent only holds around 5% of Australia's people.
09:36Its largest centers, Townsville, Carnes, and Darwin, top out between roughly 150,000 and 200,000 residents.
09:44Sydney and Melbourne each have more than 5 million.
09:48So why has a country this wealthy never built a major city in its own tropics?
09:53On paper, it should be perfect, tropical, coastal, the closest part of Australia to Asia.
10:00But rain is the problem here.
10:03Darwin has two reasons, not four.
10:05The dry from May to October and the wet from November to April.
10:10It gets about 68 inches a year.
10:13Nearly three times what London normally gets.
10:16But almost all of it dumps during those monsoon months, flooding roads and cutting off whole towns.
10:23Then the tap shuts off, and the tropical heat evaporates whatever's left in the reservoirs.
10:28So the north spends half the year drowning, and half of it thirsty.
10:34Then there's the heat and the humidity.
10:37Picture it.
10:38Sweltering.
10:39Standing on a beautiful tropical beach.
10:41Every instinct telling you to jump in.
10:44You can't.
10:45Since hunting was banned in 1971, the territory's saltwater crocodiles have exploded
10:51from about 3,000 to over 100,000, up to 8 per mile of waterway.
10:58And in the wet season, the water fills with dangerous box jellyfish.
11:10Then the weather at its worst.
11:12Darwin has been flattened twice in living memory.
11:15Once in the 1940s, and again on Christmas morning 1974, when Cyclone Tracy struck with 135 mile-per-hour gusts,
11:26destroying over 70% of the city and killing 66 people.
11:31Most of the population had to be evacuated.
11:34Many never came back.
11:39Darwin sits 1,900 miles from the nearest major Australian city.
11:45Everything costs more to build and ship.
11:48So business clusters, where the people already are, keep the south growing and the north small.
11:54So, could Australia ever build its first major northern city?
11:59Let's play it out.
12:01Water is about storage.
12:04Build covered reservoirs and pump wet-season floodwater into underground aquifers,
12:10desalinate along the coast, and the wettest corner of Australia stops being the thirstiest.
12:15Heat is really an energy problem, and the north has some of the fiercest sunlight on Earth.
12:21Cheap solar makes cooling cheap.
12:24As for cyclones?
12:26It's partly solved already, since the city was rebuilt to strict codes after tracing, which leaves distance.
12:34It only counts against you if you're measuring towards Sydney, measure towards Jakarta, Singapore, Manila, hundreds of millions of people,
12:43hours away,
12:44and the empty north stops looking like Australia's back door and starts looking like its front one.
12:51Why is 95% of Australia empty?
12:55We all know the standard explanation.
12:58The Australian outback is a burning hellscape full of deserts and deadly spiders.
13:04And sure, that's true.
13:05But there is a deeper reason.
13:07It isn't just a geographical accident.
13:10It's a calculated economic strategy.
13:14Australia isn't empty because it failed to conquer the land.
13:17It's empty because it chose not to.
13:20Here's the reality.
13:21Filling this land with people would be financial and ecological suicide.
13:26First, look at the water.
13:29Could Australia terraform the desert?
13:31Technically, yes.
13:33They could divert rivers and pump aquifers to build green cities in the center, just like the Soviet Union tried
13:39in Central Asia.
13:40But look at what happened there.
13:42The RLC dried up, creating a toxic dust bowl.
13:47Australia learned from history.
13:49The government knows that the interior's water, like the Great Artesian Basin, which covers a massive 1.7 million square
13:56kilometers, is a finite battery, not a renewable river.
14:00However, large-scale settlement would drain it in decades, leading to collapse.
14:06So they intentionally restrict development to keep the system stable.
14:10Second, emptiness is actually profitable.
14:14The Outback isn't a wasteland.
14:16It's an industrial engine, packed with iron, gold, and uranium.
14:21But modern mining doesn't need cities.
14:24It needs automation.
14:26Australia runs some of the world's largest mines, with the autonomous trucks and robots controlled from air-conditioned offices in
14:33Perth, over 900 miles away.
14:37Building cities for workers in the middle of nowhere makes no economic sense.
14:41It's cheaper to fly staff in for two weeks and fly them out than to build schools, hospitals, and suburbs
14:48in a desert.
14:49The emptiness allows for maximum extraction and minimum overhead.
14:53And finally, there is the tyranny of distance.
14:59Infrastructure costs in the Outback grow exponentially.
15:02Maintaining a mile of asphalt road or a power line in 50-degree heat costs a fortune.
15:08If you build a city in the center, you have to subsidize every drop of water and every watt of
15:14electricity forever.
15:16By keeping the population hugged tight to the coast, Australia creates one of the most efficient economies on Earth.
15:23They don't fight the map.
15:25They accept it.
15:26So, why is 95% of Australia empty?
15:30Not because the land is useless, but because leaving it empty is the only way to keep the country rich.
15:41Australia feels like the safest place on Earth, geologically speaking.
15:45No mega-volcanoes, no massive fault lines slicing cities in half, no constant earthquake alerts.
15:51It looks solid and unbreakable, but according to a brand new global stress map of Earth's crust,
15:57Australia is one of the most internally stressed pieces of land on the entire planet.
16:02It's not shaking or cracking yet, but it's quietly storing energy like a bent ruler about to snap.
16:11To understand why this is such a big deal, imagine Earth's crust like a giant jigsaw puzzle made of moving
16:17slabs called tectonic plates.
16:19These plates float on softer rock below and push, pull, or grind against each other.
16:26Where plates meet, earthquakes and volcanoes make sense.
16:29But stress doesn't just stay at the edges, it travels.
16:33It builds up inside plates, too, like pressure spreading through frozen ice when you squeeze it.
16:40Scientists mapped over 100,000 real stress measurements, from oil wells, rock tests, and earthquakes,
16:47to see where Earth is being squeezed the hardest right now.
16:52When they laid all the data together, the map lit up like a warning sign, and Australia stood out.
16:59This shocked scientists, because Australia sits far away from plate boundaries, which usually means stability.
17:05But instead of relaxing, the Australian continent gets squeezed from multiple directions by nearby plates,
17:12especially the Pacific and Eurasian ones.
17:14The stress doesn't release easily, so it piles up inside the crust, and then nothing moves.
17:21Until suddenly, everything does.
17:24One of the strangest discoveries showed up in places like the Bowen Basin,
17:28where stress directions twist and rotate underground.
17:31That's bad news, because unpredictable stress behaves like glass about to shatter.
17:37These rotating stress fields make it nearly impossible to say when or where cracks could form.
17:43It could be years away, or tomorrow.
17:46And human activity makes it even riskier.
17:49Drilling deep into the crust for geothermal energy or injecting fluids underground
17:53can nudge these stressed zones just enough to trigger fault movement.
17:57This doesn't mean Australia is about to split in half next week,
18:02but it does mean the idea of geologically safe might be outdated.
18:08Scientists now think Australia could eventually fracture internally
18:12and form new fault systems where none existed before.
18:16What makes the new stress map different from older models
18:19is that it doesn't just explain past earthquakes,
18:22it helps identify future risk zones before anything breaks.
18:26Countries can use this data to decide where drilling is safer,
18:30where tunnels shouldn't go,
18:32and where infrastructure needs reinforcement.
18:34But even with all this data,
18:36we still can't predict the exact moment Earth will snap.
18:40Stress maps tell us where the tension is.
18:43They don't tell us when it gives up.
18:45But this idea of continents quietly tearing themselves apart
18:48isn't just theory.
18:51Africa gives us the clearest real-world example.
18:53It's slowly unzipping itself.
18:56So slowly that no human will ever wake up
18:59and see a new ocean where land used to be,
19:02but fast enough that scientists can actually measure it happening right now.
19:08Deep beneath East Africa,
19:10the ground stretches,
19:11thins,
19:11and pulls apart as if the continent is taking a deep breath
19:14and never fully exhaling.
19:16And over millions of years,
19:18that stretch could turn into an ocean.
19:21This whole process centers on something called
19:24the East African Rift System,
19:26or EARS for short.
19:27Think of it like a giant tear running through the continent,
19:30thousands of miles long,
19:32cutting through countries like Ethiopia,
19:34Kenya,
19:35Tanzania,
19:35and Mozambique.
19:36It's one of the biggest rift zones on Earth.
19:39A rift zone is exactly what it sounds like,
19:41a place where the planet's crust is being pulled apart
19:44instead of squeezed together.
19:46And Africa just happens to have
19:48one of the most dramatic examples anywhere on the planet.
19:52What's really happening is that Africa isn't one solid plate anymore.
19:56It's splitting into two massive chunks,
19:59the Nubian plate to the West
20:00and the Somalian plate to the East.
20:02These two plates are drifting away from each other
20:05at a speed that sounds laughable,
20:07just less than an inch per year.
20:09That's about the speed your fingernails grow.
20:12But give that process millions of years
20:14and suddenly continents don't look so permanent anymore.
20:19In 2018,
20:20photos of a giant split in Kenya
20:21went viral across the internet.
20:23Headlines screamed that Africa
20:26was splitting in half right now.
20:28It looked dramatic,
20:29but that moment didn't mean Africa
20:31suddenly broke overnight.
20:33That rupture was more like a surface ripple,
20:36a small local sign
20:37of a much bigger process
20:39that's been going on
20:40for around 25 million years.
20:43And if we could travel in time
20:44to 5 or 10 million years from now,
20:47we would probably see the crust thin enough
20:49for seawater to rush in.
20:51When or if that happens,
20:53East Africa would slowly peel away
20:55from the rest of the continent,
20:56and a brand new ocean basin
20:58would form between the two plates.
21:00Africa would lose its eastern shoulder,
21:02and maps of the world
21:04would need a serious update.
21:06As strange as that sounds,
21:08it's actually totally normal for Earth.
21:10The planet never stops reshaping itself.
21:12It just works on a timeline so slow
21:15that our brains struggle to process it.
21:18The continents we know today
21:19feel ancient and permanent,
21:21but they're basically temporary arrangements.
21:24About 138 million years ago,
21:27South America and Africa
21:28were locked together like puzzle pieces.
21:30You can still see it
21:32if you look at their coastlines.
21:33They match almost perfectly.
21:36East Africa drifting away
21:37will just be the next chapter in that story.
21:41Australia's story could follow a different path,
21:44but the physics are similar.
21:46Stress builds, rock resists,
21:48then the rock fails.
21:50And stress doesn't care about borders,
21:52cities, or how calm the surface looks.
21:55That's why scientists are so concerned
21:57about something called SH Max,
21:59the direction of maximum horizontal stress.
22:03In simple terms,
22:04it tells us which way the Earth
22:06is squeezing the hardest underground.
22:08If that squeezing lines up
22:10with existing fractures,
22:11earthquakes become more likely.
22:13If it cuts across old faults,
22:16new ones can form.
22:18Turkey is another place
22:19where the stress map
22:20practically screams danger.
22:23The country sits where Arabian,
22:25Eurasian,
22:25and African tectonic plates collide.
22:28There is also a smaller Anatolium plate
22:30on which Turkey is located,
22:32and which gets squeezed westward
22:34like toothpaste,
22:35grinding against massive faults.
22:38The stress map shows SH Max
22:40pointing in directions
22:41that load these faults perfectly.
22:44Now, researchers looked at ancient lava flows
22:47near one of Turkey's faults,
22:48and realized they weren't random.
22:51Lava sheets once flowed smoothly across the land,
22:55cooled into solid rock,
22:56and then got pulled apart over time,
22:59like a snapped chocolate bar.
23:01That gave scientists a rare,
23:03clear snapshot
23:03of how continents deform
23:05from the inside out.
23:07To date the lava,
23:08the team used microscopic zircon crystals
23:11trapped inside it.
23:12These crystals work
23:13like natural stopwatches.
23:15They trap helium created
23:17by radioactive decay,
23:18and by measuring that helium,
23:20scientists can tell
23:21when the lava erupted and cooled.
23:24When they combine that
23:26with satellite images
23:27and remote sensing,
23:28the scientists managed to see
23:30Earth's slow-motion movements.
23:33The Tuzgaloo Fault
23:34stretches more than 120 miles
23:37and is so massive
23:38that you can spot it from space.
23:40For years, scientists assumed
23:42it behaved like many
23:43of Turkey's dangerous faults,
23:45where land slides sideways
23:46past itself.
23:48But this new research
23:49flipped that idea on its head.
23:51The fault isn't sliding.
23:52It's slowly ripping open.
23:54The land on either side
23:55moves away from each other
23:56at less than an inch per year.
23:58That sounds tiny,
23:59but then again,
24:01over thousands
24:01or millions of years,
24:03that motion adds up
24:04to continents
24:05literally thinning
24:06and breaking.
24:07And since the fault sits
24:09where three massive
24:10tectonic plates meet,
24:11this matters way beyond Turkey.
24:14All this once again reminds us
24:16that continents
24:17don't just collide or slide.
24:19Sometimes they stretch
24:21until they snap.
24:22And places that look calm
24:24on the surface
24:24might already be
24:25under invisible strain,
24:27inch by inch,
24:28year after year,
24:30rewriting the map
24:31long before anyone
24:32feels the shake.
24:34Usually, we associate
24:36living below ground
24:37with poverty or bunkers.
24:39A last resort
24:40for those with
24:41no other options.
24:42But in this specific location,
24:44the logic is flipped upside down,
24:46as living underground
24:47is the ultimate luxury.
24:49Zoom in at this spot.
24:51Plenty of mounds,
24:52holes,
24:53and almost no buildings,
24:54trees,
24:55and people.
24:56This isn't a ghost town.
24:58In fact,
24:59we're in South Australia
25:00at Coober Petty,
25:02the opal mining capital
25:03of the world.
25:04And here's the kicker.
25:05About 60%
25:07of the town's population
25:08lives underground.
25:09On the surface,
25:11Coober Petty
25:12is unforgiving territory
25:13because of the severe weather.
25:15In the summer,
25:16temperatures regularly hit
25:18above 50 degrees Celsius.
25:19It's so intense
25:20that electronics fail,
25:22and birds are literally
25:23falling out of the sky
25:24from heat exhaustion.
25:26To cope with it,
25:27people of Coober Petty
25:28often play golf at night
25:29using glowing balls
25:31to avoid sunlight.
25:32There's the only golf course
25:34without a single blade
25:35of grass in the world.
25:37If you live in a standard house
25:38above ground,
25:39your air conditioning bill
25:40can cost a fortune,
25:41and if the power goes out,
25:43the heat becomes
25:44life-threatening.
25:45Where is the ultimate solution?
25:47To go down even just a few meters
25:49into dugout homes
25:51carved directly into sandstone.
25:53Down here,
25:54the temperature stays
25:55at a perfect,
25:56constant 23 degrees Celsius
25:58all year round,
25:59without any artificial cooling.
26:01These aren't dark caves.
26:03They are full-scale homes
26:05with kitchens,
26:05Wi-Fi,
26:06and living rooms,
26:07just without windows
26:08and air conditioning.
26:09What else you may need
26:10in your town
26:11even though it's underground?
26:12Bars with pool tables?
26:13Sure thing.
26:15Bookstores?
26:15Of course.
26:16And they even have
26:17this beautiful church
26:18carved entirely
26:19out of sandstone.
26:21On the other hand,
26:22there is a complex,
26:24often forgotten,
26:25bitter part of the story.
26:27While many miners
26:28with their families
26:29live in these kind
26:29of cool sandstone structures,
26:31a significant group
26:33of the local
26:34indigenous population
26:35remains above ground.
26:37Yes,
26:37the government provides
26:38proper houses for them,
26:40but they're often
26:41the worst places to be
26:42because despite being modern,
26:44they can trap heat
26:45and act like ovens
26:47in this climate.
26:48And here comes
26:49this strange paradox.
26:50The primitive method
26:52of digging a hole
26:52is actually the most
26:53sophisticated
26:54and luxurious way
26:55to survive in this desert.
26:57While the modern solution
26:58of building a house
26:59can be a real nightmare
27:01for the residents.
27:02We're seeing empty desert
27:03on a map,
27:04while in fact
27:05looking at the only thing
27:07that can save people
27:08from severe sunlight,
27:09the ground itself.
27:11So a few years ago,
27:13in 2019,
27:14folks in Australia
27:15said they liked
27:16an old idea
27:17with a new twist,
27:18using extra floodwater
27:20from the north
27:21to help dry areas
27:22in the west and south.
27:23This plan got the name
27:25of the new
27:26Branfield scheme.
27:27It was based
27:28on an old idea
27:29from the 1930s.
27:31The idea was
27:32to catch floodwater
27:33from the north
27:33and move it
27:34to the south and west.
27:35But the original plan
27:37never actually happened.
27:39Over the years,
27:40lots of experts
27:40said it wouldn't work.
27:42They thought it was
27:43too expensive
27:44and too tricky to build,
27:45even though it could
27:46potentially help
27:47fix drought problems
27:48in dry parts of Queensland.
27:50The original idea
27:52appeared a long time ago,
27:54when an engineer
27:55named John Branfield
27:56got a big idea.
27:58He wanted to take
27:59floodwater from rivers
28:00in northern Queensland
28:01and send it inland
28:03to Lake Eyrie,
28:04one of the driest spots
28:05in Australia.
28:06He planned to use
28:07dams, pumps,
28:08really big pipes,
28:10and even tunnels
28:11to transport
28:11all that water
28:12over the Great Dividing Range,
28:14a big mountain range
28:15in Australia.
28:16The biggest dam
28:18would have been called
28:18Hell's Gate,
28:19and Branfield
28:20wanted it twice as tall
28:22as what it was
28:22originally planned.
28:23This way, pumps
28:25and gravity
28:26could help move
28:27the water
28:27over the Great Dividing Range.
28:29The water
28:30would then flow south
28:31and help irrigate
28:32farmland near places
28:33like Hugendin.
28:34It would change
28:35the weather,
28:36make it rain more,
28:37and turn the dry land
28:38into green farms.
28:40Eventually,
28:40it would reach
28:41Lake Eyrie,
28:42turning the desert
28:43into a green
28:44growing area.
28:45That way,
28:46Australia could grow
28:47more food,
28:48sell it to other countries,
28:49and make more jobs.
28:51He hoped that the area
28:52could turn into a food bowl
28:54for the country.
28:55For some time,
28:56people talked about
28:57the plan a lot.
28:58They loved the idea.
28:59They thought it could change
29:01how farming worked.
29:02And some even believed
29:03that nature
29:04had already planned
29:05for the land
29:06to be filled with water.
29:07Dry rivers and lake beds
29:08were just waiting
29:09to be used.
29:10They even said
29:11that rains fell
29:12on the wrong side
29:13of the mountains,
29:14and Branfield's plan
29:15could fix that.
29:17But when the authorities
29:18looked into this idea,
29:19they found big problems.
29:21And the main one
29:22was that the plan
29:23would cost too much.
29:25Plus,
29:25there weren't enough
29:26scientists or engineers
29:27to do a full investigation.
29:29The land was too dry
29:31and harsh.
29:32No one was sure
29:33it would even work,
29:34like how much water
29:35would really get there.
29:37Plus,
29:37some of Branfield's
29:38measurements were wrong,
29:40especially the dam heights.
29:42So,
29:42in 1947,
29:44they officially
29:44shut the project down,
29:46claiming that
29:47even if
29:47they built the project,
29:49it wouldn't be worth it.
29:50After all,
29:51even places
29:52next to oceans,
29:53like parts of Chile,
29:54still stay bone dry.
29:55So,
29:56a big lake
29:57might not result
29:58in more rain.
29:59And still,
30:00in 2019,
30:01one political party
30:03brought the idea back
30:04with an updated version
30:06called
30:06the new
30:06Branfield scheme.
30:08They wanted to try it again,
30:10but with some changes
30:11to make it work better.
30:12Their plan included
30:13the following steps.
30:15Take water
30:15from the South Johnstone,
30:17Tully,
30:18Herbert,
30:18and Burdekin Rivers.
30:20Store that water
30:21using a big dam
30:22called Hell's Gate Dam.
30:24But this time,
30:25they wanted to make
30:25the dam twice as tall
30:27as in the original plan.
30:28Let the water flow
30:30through tunnels
30:30using gravity,
30:31instead of using
30:32lots of pumps.
30:34Move the water
30:35under the mountains
30:35and into the
30:36Warrego River
30:37in southern Queensland.
30:39Use the water
30:39to grow crops
30:40in dry places
30:41south and west
30:42of Hughendon,
30:43a huge area
30:44even bigger
30:45than Tasmania,
30:46eventually turning it
30:47into a food bowl.
30:48At the same time,
30:49they didn't say
30:50how much the whole project
30:52would cost,
30:52but they promised
30:54to spend $20 million
30:55to let Australia's
30:56National Science Agency
30:58check if the plan
30:59could work.
31:00Those innovative ideas
31:01sounded good,
31:02but for over 80 years,
31:04loads of experts
31:05kept saying,
31:06nope,
31:06it won't work.
31:07Why?
31:09Branfield said
31:10his idea would cost
31:1140 million pounds
31:12back in 1941.
31:14That's about
31:15$3.2 billion today.
31:17But the new version
31:18of the plan
31:18might cost
31:19more than $15 billion
31:21and take over
31:2210 years to build.
31:23Also,
31:24people who care
31:25about nature
31:25are worried.
31:26They explain
31:27that taking water
31:28away from where
31:29it usually goes
31:30could hurt
31:31animals and plants.
31:32It might let
31:33invasive plants
31:34and animals
31:34spread to new places.
31:36It might mess up
31:37rivers and oceans
31:38where fish
31:39and other animals live.
31:40It could even hurt
31:41towns and businesses
31:43near the coast
31:44that depend
31:44on those natural
31:45water flows.
31:47Still,
31:47some people
31:48really believed
31:49in the idea
31:49and thought
31:50it was worth doing,
31:51especially to help
31:52farmers and fix
31:53drought problems.
31:54However,
31:55in 2022,
31:57the government
31:57decided to stop
31:58trying to fix
31:59the drought
32:00in western Queensland
32:01with the
32:01Branfield scheme.
32:03Experts looked
32:04closely at the plan
32:05and said
32:05it just wouldn't work.
32:07The problem?
32:08There's not enough
32:09water all the time
32:10to make it happen.
32:11Apparently,
32:12the new cost
32:13of the plan
32:13would have been
32:14over $30 billion.
32:15That's a huge
32:16amount of money.
32:17You could buy
32:18yourself a fleet
32:19of private jets
32:19and luxurious yachts.
32:21And more.
32:22So,
32:23experts said
32:23you'd need
32:24lots and lots
32:25of water
32:25to spend
32:26that kind of money.
32:27But the water
32:28just isn't there.
32:30Now,
32:31instead of one
32:31huge project,
32:33they suggested
32:33doing smaller
32:34water projects
32:35closer to where
32:36the rain and
32:37waterfalls are.
32:38These smaller projects,
32:40called mini
32:41Branfield grids,
32:42would be in four places
32:43along the Queensland coast.
32:45Those little grids
32:46could share water
32:47when some places
32:48had more or less rain.
32:50Other scientists
32:51looked at the plan too,
32:53and they agreed.
32:54Even if things
32:55went super well,
32:56the Branfield scheme
32:57would still cause problems
32:58and cost way too much,
33:00while the mini
33:00water grids project
33:02looks more plausible.
33:04They think
33:04the dry parts
33:05west of the mountains
33:06will do better
33:07without the full-scale
33:08Branfield scheme.
33:10There are easier
33:11and cheaper ways
33:11to help those places
33:12grow and get water.
33:14So,
33:15the big plan was
33:15dropped,
33:16and now they're
33:17looking at smarter,
33:18smaller ideas
33:19to help with water
33:20and farming.
33:21And the matter
33:22is quite urgent.
33:23Australia is
33:24a super dry place,
33:26one of the driest
33:27places people
33:27actually live in.
33:29When there's a drought,
33:30there's not much
33:31water around.
33:32That means farms
33:32don't grow as much food,
33:34and that can cause
33:35a lot of problems.
33:36In the future,
33:37droughts are likely
33:38to happen more often
33:39and be worse.
33:41That's why it's
33:41necessary to start
33:42getting ready now.
33:45Experts are working
33:46on something called
33:47the Drought Resilience Mission,
33:49trying to figure out
33:50how to deal with
33:51droughts better
33:51in the future.
33:52One of them looked
33:53at how much droughts
33:55actually cost Australia.
33:56His research shows
33:58that droughts
33:58can hurt a lot of things,
34:00farms, jobs, towns,
34:02and even the whole country.
34:03When there's no rain
34:05for a really long time,
34:06some towns can actually
34:08run out of water.
34:09That's called
34:10Day Zero.
34:11It's when the taps
34:12in people's houses
34:13get turned off
34:14because there's
34:15just no water left.
34:16In 2020,
34:18a town in Queensland
34:19called Stanthorpe
34:20hit Day Zero.
34:21About 50 other towns
34:23were really close, too.
34:25When such a situation
34:26happens,
34:27the only way
34:28to get water
34:28is by bringing it
34:29in with trucks,
34:31and that's
34:31super expensive.
34:33Stanthorpe had to get
34:34around 20 trucks
34:35of water every day
34:36for a year and a half.
34:38It cost them
34:39about $800,000
34:40every month.
34:42In the end,
34:43they spent over $14 million
34:44just to have water.
34:47Luckily,
34:48it started raining again
34:49and filled the dams
34:50back up.
34:51But the authorities
34:52are working on ways
34:53to stop this kind of thing
34:54from happening again.
34:56They want to help
34:56towns be ready
34:57so they never run
34:59out of water like that.
35:00Because drought
35:01just doesn't mess
35:02with water,
35:03it can also mess
35:04with people's health.
35:05When everything dries up,
35:07plants vanish
35:07and the soil gets loose.
35:09Then the wind
35:10picks it up
35:10and makes huge dust storms.
35:12Those dust clouds
35:14can blow really far,
35:15even into such big cities
35:17as Sydney.
35:17That's what happened
35:19in 2018.
35:20The air got so bad
35:22that kids,
35:23older people,
35:23and anyone
35:24with breathing problems
35:25had to be
35:26extremely careful.
35:27The dust ruined
35:29some crops
35:29and made different foods,
35:31even fruit,
35:32unsafe to eat.
35:33There are heavy
35:33storms and seeds
35:33be able to
35:33but it might
35:33maybe 6,
35:33will continue
35:33or myelet
35:33got quoted
35:33Here's
35:34how thelit
35:34I
35:34enjoyed