Peak Water

[Bob Hubbard]

Interesting shot, have to tanget a hair and ask where that is.

 

[elder999]

Interesting shot, have to tanget a hair and ask where that is.

I believe that's the Aral sea-or used to be.It's between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and was once the fourth largest "inland sea." (Most sailors call 'em what they are:lakes!)

 

[Empty Hands]

Interesting shot, have to tanget a hair and ask where that is.

The Aral Sea. Decades of severe overuse and catastrophic mismanagement by the Soviet Union and then Russia have resulted in a surface area loss of about 75%. It isn't even a single body of water anymore, but three lakes, two of which are so salty that fish cannot live there. The fishing industry that used to thrive there is completely gone, with many former port towns now fronting sand dunes and the fleets beached on the sands.

When people talk about fresh water supplies going away due to mismanagement, this is the kind of thing they are talking about.

 

[Big Don]

Reminds me of an essay I had to write in my high school Naval JROTC class, "What would happen to the US Navy if there were no oceans?"

 

[mrhnau]

Peak water? Hold on, these same macadamia nuts just finished telling us that global warming will melt all the ice caps, right? thus producing tons of fresh water being dumped into the ocean, right? Could they please make up their mind? Are we running out of water or going to have too much? Has anyone ever heard of desalination? Maybe we can save New York City from drowning by drinking enough melting ice burgs! yay!

I do get tired of the hearing of this list of catastrophes that are destined to destroy us all. oil, water, new virus, squirrels... every new discovery seems to put us on the brink and pose some form of threat reminiscent of the Biblical Apocalypse...

 

[Empty Hands]

Peak water? Hold on, these same macadamia nuts just finished telling us that global warming will melt all the ice caps, right? thus producing tons of fresh water being dumped into the ocean, right?

So all of that tasty ocean salinity will decrease from 3.5% to 3.3%. So much more drinkable!

Are we running out of water or going to have too much?

Conflating drinkable fresh water and melting ice cap into the ocean water is dishonest. Both can be true.

Has anyone ever heard of desalination?

Yeah, it's so freaking expensive that the Saudis are pretty much the only ones to do it on a large scale. You know, the guys living in the middle of a vast desert with no water sources. It may have also escaped your attention that most of the world is poor, and can't particularly afford expensive desalinated water.

I do get tired of the hearing of this list of catastrophes that are destined to destroy us all. oil, water, new virus, squirrels... every new discovery seems to put us on the brink and pose some form of threat reminiscent of the Biblical Apocalypse...

Pretend that it's impossible that things will change, that we will ever screw ourselves over and cause a catastrophe. I'm sure that will make sure nothing ever happens.

Hey, I'm sure there were plenty of maroons in the Soviet government absolutely convinced it would be impossible to drain off an entire inland sea due to agricultural overuse. Look how well that turned out!

 

[mrhnau]

Conflating drinkable fresh water and melting ice cap into the ocean water is dishonest. Both can be true.

I understand, it just seems ironic. I can't decide whether to wring my hands about losing water or gaining water. I'm so conflicted!

Yeah, it's so freaking expensive that the Saudis are pretty much the only ones to do it on a large scale. You know, the guys living in the middle of a vast desert with no water sources. It may have also escaped your attention that most of the world is poor, and can't particularly afford expensive desalinated water.

And that is why we should fund research into cheaper desalination! If indeed we will have a water crisis, should we just wring our hands and cry about our ultimate demise, or should we actually do something? Such as find cheaper processes for desalination?

Pretend that it's impossible that things will change, that we will ever screw ourselves over and cause a catastrophe. I'm sure that will make sure nothing ever happens.

Hey, I'm sure there were plenty of maroons in the Soviet government absolutely convinced it would be impossible to drain off an entire inland sea due to agricultural overuse. Look how well that turned out!

I never said we don't do anything. If we can prove a problem exists, we find a solution if possible! Desalination, reasonable conservation are good options. I don't believe in creating a panic. Works great for selling newspapers and ads for CNN, but it really does not do anything other than upset people. Instead of trying to convince everyone that the end of mankind is at hand, why not try something optimistic, like suggesting alternatives?

Same thing with oil. We know its a limited supply. Don't panic! Fund other sources of energy. Drill more until we can sustain ourselves without it or with minimal usage of it. Then again, that does not work well with groups/people that need an issue to harp against... always need something negative to bring up...

 

[Empty Hands]

And that is why we should fund research into cheaper desalination! If indeed we will have a water crisis, should we just wring our hands and cry about our ultimate demise, or should we actually do something?

Yes, we should do something...prevent the problem from occurring in the first place! Then we wouldn't need desalination, which due to simple physics, will always be much more expensive than that nice fresh water falling from the skies and storing itself above and belowground.

Fund other sources of energy. Drill more until we can sustain ourselves without it or with minimal usage of it.

Environmentalists have been saying this for a long time. They then usually get derided as wacky prophets of doom by those with a vested interest in the status quo. Since most people are lazy, they are going to go with the easier option - believing what is comfortable and what won't affect their lifestyle. Environmentalists have been saying "optimistic" things for a long time now and not getting far, and the grim pictures are a way of trying to pierce the apathy. In some areas, things really are that dire - they are approaching potential tipping points where all the money and intervention won't matter.

It would be so much easier and cheaper to do the little things now to prevent drastic upheaval and cost later. Of course, you can't convince people to get off their butts and turn off the TV at 30 so they can avoid a fatal heart attack at 50, so I don't see much success on this front.