Thread by @VanaT66

Kanal Istanbul. An environmental catastrophe that affects us all. Erdoğan’s dream of magnificence is poised to become a nightmare.

Negative factors listed by Prof. C.Saydam of Hacettepe University and Prof. E.Gönenç of Istanbul Technical University
A thread🧵

https://twitter.com/ahval_en/status/1412696673676009473

1⃣The hydrologic balance will be reversed between, the cold and fresh waters of the Black Sea and the warm and salty waters flowing from the Mediterranean across the Sea of Marmara into the Black Sea.

2⃣Although the Black Sea’s level is 30cm higher than the Marmara there is a 2way stream through the Bosporus Straits. The 1way flow of the new channel will force the Black Sea to constantly supply fresh water to the Marmara without being supplied with salty waters from Marmara.

3⃣This will be the beginning of an irreversible environmental disaster as the Black Sea will be emptied twice as fast with two taps while the flow rates and capacities of the rivers (Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, and rivers of all riparian states) that feed the sea stay the same.

4⃣While the Black Sea slowly dries up, the warmth and the salinity of the Marmara and the Mediterranean will change. The Marmara will become a putrefying water mass irreversibly altered, with devastating consequences for marine and urban life.

5⃣The part of Thrace that lies between the new channel and the Bosporus will become an island and its underground water sources will be replaced by sea water.
6⃣Once built, the new channel will be irreversible.

7⃣Finally, the project is being built in the vicinity of Istanbul, a mega city cornered in a tiny territory between the Black Sea and the Marmara already inhabited by some 16 million people who have no breathing space left.