Quora

Topic1：Is it possible to terraform the Australian desert using today's technology?

For 5C reduction: cover it with solar panels. It will divert the energy from Sun somewhere else where it is needed, and the desert will cool off...
Probably that will come with some rains because of the cooling effect, and with rains some flora will come too (and fauna.)
Since flora will continue to divert Sun's energy more cooling will come, so there is no need to cover the entire desert with solar panels!
Even more, the energy from solar panels can be used for desalinization of ocean water and help the vegetation...
Start from the margins, create human establishments with each solar panel plant to give a sense and make it profitable...

terraform  vt.使地球化 (to make a planet more like earth, so that people can live on it.)

reduction  n.减少，缩减

divert  vt.使改变，使转向

flora  n.植物群 (the plants of a particular area, type of environment or period of time)

fauna  n.动物群 (all the animals living in an area or in a particular period of history)

desalinization  n.减少盐分，脱盐

vegetation  n.植被

Topic2：If they could ever water the Australian desert by desalinizing the adjacent ocean, couldn't Australia eventually rival any country in the world for producing food and thereby supporting an extremely large population?

When Europeans first reached Australia and crossed the coastal dividing mountain range, they were puzzled to find that the rivers appeared to run inland, not to the coast.

This led to the belief that there was a vast inland sea, and a lot of effort went into finding it, unsuccessfully, as it turned out.

The thing is, they were not really all that far wrong. They were just a few hundred thousand years too late, and three hundred feet too high.

There is a vast artesian basin under the Eastern part of the country that is what is left of the original inland sea. It surfaces occasionally in rainy periods in places like Lake Eyre, normally a salt pan,

It is water pumped from this basin that supports much of Australian agriculture in otherwise arid areas.

Edit: I first wrote the following in response to a (correct) comment below that I had not actually answered the question, but I think it belongs better as an edit to the original.

No it does not, (answer the original question,) I agree. But when others have answered the specifics of the question adequately, and I feel I can add to the broader picture, I will do that in an attempt to increase general understanding of the issue.

The short answer is no, Australia could not. Even were one to somehow, probably by a plethora of nuclear power plants, provide the electricity for the desalination and pumping that would be required, the actual volume of water involved is mind boggling.

To give you some idea, in the present drought, two major towns, Dubbo and Tamworth are, basically, out of water. This is a hundred thousand (round numbers) people, with NO water. And where I live will be out of water by Christmas, unless we get drought breaking rain, however we are going into the dry season.

“Well,” says someone, “They will have to truck water in.”

Leaving “where from” and whoever “they” are, out of the question, let’s work on 100 liters per person per day, a normal very low figure. We are on level four water restrictions where I live, at 160 litres.

Second edit: Vakker below has caught my hurried math. This is now corrected

So, at a 100 liters / person / day, every 10 people is a tonne of water. Now, lets assume a forty tonne axle weight load on a highway truck, round numbers again. That means a truck load / day, for four hundred people. And for the hundred thousand thirsty people, that means 250 truck loads EVERY DAY.

And none of this includes water for livestock or crops.

And when you extrapolate that into diesel fuel, it becomes even more horrific.

Edit III, Interesting and informative comments are coming in from those more expert than I, I strongly suggest scrolling through the comments, particularly to find Fred Haskin’s and others with specific knowledge in the area..