Jerry Friedman <jerry.friedman99@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 1:41:46?AM UTC-6, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> > Jerry Friedman <jerry.fr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 1:02:15?PM UTC-6, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> > > > Jerry Friedman <jerry.fr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > On Friday, October 13, 2023 at 3:57:05?PM UTC-6, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> > > > > > On 13-Oct-23 19:06, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > >
> > > [irrigating Australia the easy way]
> > >
> > > > > > > The areas around the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake still
> > > > > > > look like desert on Google Maps.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Good point.
> > > > > > I have no idea what happens to the evaporation from those water
> > > > > > Ibodies. t has to go somewhere.
> > > > > ...
> > > > >
> > > > > I suspect some of it falls as rain or snow on the highlands downwind
> > > > > of them and then flows back toward them, though it may not reach them.
> > > > > So some areas nearby probably aren't as dry as they would be without
> > > > > the bodies of water.
> > >
> > > > For a practical example: The Mediterrenean has a net evaporation excess
> > > > of about one meter/year.
> > > > And yes, that includes all of the rain that falls in the bassin,
> > > > so on the Southern Alps for example, but also as far north as Moscow,
> > > > as far south as Ethiopia, and east as far as all of Eastern Turkey.
> > > ...
> > >
> > > Farther south than Ethiopia, all the way to Burundi.
> > >
> > > Obaue: In my English, your use of "as far north as Moscow" means Moscow
> > > is included in the basin, which of course is not what you meant. To
> > > describe the actual situation, as have to say "as far north as the
> > > latitude of Moscow", and I'd worry that even that might be
> > > misunderstood. Others may differ.
> > >
> > > (I'm not talking about "Glasgow is as far north as Moscow", but about
> > > Jan's actual sentence.)
>
> > Sorry, just my temporary confusion, between Volga and Don,
> > and Caspian and Black,
> >
> > Jan
> > (awake again)
>
> Ah. As it happens, Wikipedia says the northernmost part of the Med. basin is
> near the source of the Dnieper/Dnipro, just about as far north as Moscow.

Yes, there you have it. The Mediterranean has a huge catchment basin,
with large contributions from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans too.
Yet it has a huge evaporation deficit. (of about 1m/year)

Letting water evaporate, and hoping it will fall down again
just doesn't work,

Jan