Environment: Opportunity for CREATIVITY

I've been thinking of different ways scientists and engineers could have prepared the world population for the extreme weather problems. By not financing weaponry but instead innovative solutions to natural disasters we could have been way ahead of the game by now.

The line of trees in the photo were planted after a wildfire disaster in Sprati, Greece. Planting fast growing trees is one of the many solutions to preventing erosion quickly after a natural disaster such as the wildfires.

I’ve been trying to think even bigger and I hope other Big Thinkers will have ideas to add.

The flood in the Philippines could have been a gift from heaven for populations suffering from drought.

Water harvesting is a habit we all need to nurture.

I imagine hundreds of robotic drones flying to the area as soon as the rains start. Each drone would drop a large curved flexible plastic sheet tethered to the drone at four corners in order to catch the rain. When the plastic sheet is full enough a gadget would pop out of the drone and tie up the top of the sheet, cut it free and let the large balloon full of water drop to the sea where boats would pull it to Africa.

We already have the drones and the balloons that are pulled by boats (for example, to take water to Santorini and other islands without fresh water supplies in the summer.)

I know we have engineers that could design the rest.

This seems to me to be a win-win situation. Catch the water –

save the Phillipines from a devestating flood and give water to those who must have water to survive.

It could happen!