Siberia. Given, it is in Siberia (an area of the world where I don't understand why anyone would want to live there, except people who might have extreme cases of allergies and can't handle ANY pollen seasons), but look at how large this mine is compared to the town around it.It could create a whole series of your crater jokes like:
- Your crater is so big you need road signs to tell you which way is up.
- Your crater is so big it gave alien spacecrafts and meteors an inferiority complex.
- Your crater is so big it creates its own WIND current. (The last one is definitely true; I'm not sure about the rest. Feel free to add your own joke.)
This disturbs me for many reasons but I'll share two. First, what is our obsession with diamonds in general? They are a nice, clear (most of the time) birthstone, but are they really worth digging a "black hole" to the center of the earth to find. I mean, they aren't even that rare. The diamond supply is completely controlled by two or three major distributors that regulate the price and create the buzz for the industry. Before the 1920's most engagement rings weren't diamonds; they were likely some simple ban of metal and (if you were lucky) your birthstone. So, the craze for diamonds is purely a marketing scheme that has shaped our culture and become a status symbol for love.
"How much do you love me, baby?'
"I love you enough to contribute to the destruction of the earth on behalf of this jewel."
(and for some, it is the size of the jewel that matters.)
Second, there are some scientists working to develop a drill that will dig through the earth's outer crust and explore what lies beneath. It really is becoming a "Journey to the Middle of the Earth". (It sucked as a movie, maybe it will work as a science experiment.) The drill is like 25 times longer than the Empire State Building is tall.
I know we are a curious species, but I see this experiment going badly. If we already have a greenhouse gas problem in our atmosphere that contributes to global warming, what will happen when we puncture the outer crust and create massive volcanoes and gas emissions that we will not be able to control?
If you want some more information about this diamond mine, here is where i found it.
3 comments:
So...does this mean I should sell Sarah's diamond and replace it with a ruby? What if she notices?!?!?
wow, had no idea these kind of shenanigans were going on over there in siberia-land!
I enjoyed reading your thoughts, T!
On the Today's show yesterday (an oxymoron!!) they highlighted a number of places around the globe that are being affected by global warming. Among them was Iceland because their glaciers are melting pretty quickly, but that's not my point.
Iceland was and is being created by many active volcanoes, and some scientists are trying to use the natural heat and energy of geysers and eruptions to create an alternative energy source. So maybe digging to the earth's core in Siberia is not a horrible idea, if we can channel the energy.
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