We are running out of water.

reply to post by cavalryscout


S&F for trying to wake people up. That's why the mega-rich elite are buying up water rights. China buys potable water from the US by the boatload.

Desalinization is still expensive. You see widescale use of desalinization plants in places like Dubai -- but that is an artificially rich economy. What will happen if their oil dries up or oil falls in price?

The world is over-populated. It amazes me how many people are still in denial over this fact. And because there are no enforceable controls on births in this world, and dwindling water & food, the situation will only get worse.
Without water, there are no crops. With no crops there is famine.

The world's population is doubling about every 50 years. It's already over 7 billion. Fifty years ago. it was just about 3.5 billion. Fifty years from now, it will be over 14 billion. Unless, of course, there are massive wars, famine, and plagues that can kill off billions.

Birth control has failed miserably among the underclasses. Generally, those who have the least education and resources, breed the most.

Originally posted by boymonkey74
Good post.
Someone once said "In the future wars will not be fought over oil but water" and I believe him/her.

To be fair, I think that was the narrative at the start of the film Waterworld

Originally posted by AuranVector
reply to post by cavalryscout

 

S&F for trying to wake people up. That's why the mega-rich elite are buying up water rights. China buys potable water from the US by the boatload.

................................

The world is over-populated. It amazes me how many people are still in denial over this fact. And because there are no enforceable controls on births in this world, and dwindling water & food, the situation will only get worse.
................................

Birth control has failed miserably among the underclasses. Generally, those who have the least education and resources, breed the most.

edit on 29-3-2012 by AuranVector because: (no reason given)

If I may ask, what is your concept of FORCEABLE birth control?

Originally posted by CB328

what are you talking about. it rains everyday in multiple parts of the world

It is 100% verified fact that we are using fresh water faster than nature can replenish it. It's not even debatable.

So why rely on nature completly.

just a thought exercise, but if we were to send up giant mirrors into orbit and reflect concentrated sunlight onto patches of the ocean, would this not increase the evaporation of fresh water into the atmosphere?

My idea would be to concentrate the evaporation in areas where natural rainfall woud occur. So amplify the water content in a specific area, allow natural weather conditions to carry the vapour over land, and let it fall as rain replenishing the fresh ground water in a specific region. (maybe I should patent that as a concept?)

You also get the added bonus of demonstrating an awsome military detterant while performing a peacful task.

Whaddaya think?

Originally posted by TDawgRex

Originally posted by AwakeinNM

Originally posted by wlasikiewicz
reply to post by cavalryscout

 

When the polar caps melt they raise see level a few millimeters. I don't think that the water level is decreasing despite those reports.

Re: OP... the earth is 71% covered with water, 3% of that as fresh water. We are not running out of water. We are not keeping up with the ability to purify/desalinate it. The tech is there to do it.

edit on 28-3-2012 by AwakeinNM because: (no reason given)

edit on 28-3-2012 by AwakeinNM because: oops.. 10%. Not sure how I biffed that.

Let's get even more creepy. The human body is composed of 90% water, maybe we can reclaim that as well?

prior to burial or cremation.

Lord knows there are enough of us already using up the various resources.

No attack intended, and upon reading, I'm not sure I am even being sarcastically humorous.

already been done> @ 1 mins 50 secs

Its ok for some of you to say "well I get my water from a well" blah blah blah but most people don't have a well, if you look at the facts countries like Belgium have to import 80% of their water Kuwait 87%.
Like someone said only 2% of the water on the planet is fresh water and if you read any environmental study they do say we are running out.
You can hide you heads in the sand but this is going to be one of the biggest problems facing mankind in this century.
70% of all fresh water that we use is used on crops, as the need for more food increases so does the amount of fresh water we need.
Also the people who have shown solar stills etc? can you make 230 gallons a day? because thats how much we use each day per person in the west. (this includes the manufacture of all the things we buy etc).
Yes I hope that we can solve this by making plants to take the salt from the sea water but this is going to cost money and many people in the future will just not be able to afford it.

Ask yourself this..If the taps were shut off tomorrow where would you get your water? I would get it from a stream near me but if you add another 8000 people looking for the same resource it will run dry.
Oh and I live in the UK where it does rain a lot....but not lately...

reply to post by idmonster


Just mention that it could burn a hole in an Iranian reactor and watch how fast the US issue a grant.



Seriously though, good idea but who would be liable if someone was killed in a freak flood that was artificially made?

Theres a water crisis in places on the earth where the local population has out grown the amount of available water. Theres no such thing as running out of water.

If local populations in water poor areas did not grow out of control it would be fine.

reply to post by OccamAssassin


And would the insurance companies still refuse to payout on an "act of god"? (do they still do that?)

In my imagined world of giant space mirrors, it would be a case of, take your chances with drought, or increased chance of monsoon type flooding.

I think I'd opt for the increase in flood risk, But then, I live at the top of quite a big hill, I'f I flood, the peolpe at the bottom of the hill are in really deep s**t.

I don't think it has anything to do with having too many people on the planet. Its more to do by the misuse of water. Just as one example, there is a pro golf course in Arizona, i think. Its in the middle of the desert and sorrounded by dry barren land, yet the golf course itself has some of the lushest, green grass you've ever seen, but on either side of each hole is desert. The amount of water needed each day to keep that golf course as green as it is would be mind boggling. This is just one example that comes straight to mind, but think how much extra water would be available on a daily basis if not used on examples like this !

Has anyone heard of a dehumidifier....if it's not connected to a drain.....you have to empty it.....what is it your tipping down the drain ?.... it's called water.

Yes you can take water out of the air easily, so what is the problem.

I use the water out of my dehumidifier to water my house plants, and they grow better compaired to using tap water.

Maybe we should send dehumidifiers to the people who are dieing of thirst, they have plenty of sun so they could use solar power to run them.

The hotter the air the more water vapour....I get 5 litres of water a day on hot days.

There are much simpler ways to take water from the air,you only have to cool the air and the water will drop out.

If I had the money there would be no deserts......The rich people must enjoy watching people die....

reply to post by dontlaughthink


Can it make 230 gallons a day then? and that's for just yourself per day.

Originally posted by idmonster
reply to post by OccamAssassin

 

And would the insurance companies still refuse to payout on an "act of god"? (do they still do that?)

They will pay out on an 'act of god' if the client opts to pay for it.

I live in a bushfire prone area and can get insurance for bushfire's if I am willing to pay for it.

You can even get insurance for nuclear holocausts and acts of war if you feel like paying through the rectum.

It's not that there is any shortage of water, overall, just an inability to retain water in some areas. The more the land becomes depleted of vegetation, the less likely that that land will create the weather systems necessary to attract precipitation...and so on and so forth. We need to actively look at terraforming if we are to redress the balance in the long term.

reply to post by cavalryscout


We can live off fruit juice.... tastes much nicer and is more healthy!!

We can also live off coconut milk!!

If you have a garden, grow some fruit!

At the end of the day... World population will be to blame for much problems in the future!

Both sides of this argument are correct in my opinion.

Firstly, water is clearly more vital than Oil. That goes without saying. I can't believe this even needs to be stated - it's the basic building block of all existence on this planet FFS!

Secondly, we are "running out of water" in the fact that there is only a finite amount of fresh water passing through the natural system of any region.

The fresh water falls as rain, that rain is filtered through the natural landscape to the rivers and streams where it is used by the population. We are a growing population in every region, and as the numbers grow the use of that water becomes more and more stretched.

If we assume that there is an average rainfall in a specific area over five years, and that rainfall then declines because of environmental factors and changes in a weather system, while the population continues to grow and the demands on the stretched ecological system increase, it is obvious that there will be a water shortage.

We are seeing this in the UK this year, with a drought already starting. Our population has been increasing and the supply has stayed the same for decades. There have been restrictions on water use in my city every single summer since at least 1985. Nothing has been done to rectify this and the population is increasing every year. Back then my city was barely a decade old, and since then it has doubled.

The drought our government was suggesting would affect about three counties is spreading and is now expected to affect almost all of England. This is expected to be the worst drought in the UK in recorded history, worse than the one in 1977 (I believe) where we had a drought through autumn and an immensely hot summer, leading to water having to be trucked into communities.

Desalinization plants help, but we do not nearly have enough of them with a big enough capacity to serve entire cities. You also have to rely on transportation and the costs of that to move water to where it is needed.

You have to pay right now to get the water from a plant a couple of miles away into your home, imagine how much you'll have to pay when that water has to be desalinated at a plant on the coast, then pumped into tankers, then driven hundreds or even thousands of miles to your city, to be dumped into the reservoir or storage and then funneled to you. The cost of distribution in the oil industry is met by the costs and profits from the sale of fuel, so are you ready to see the same charges for water?

Governments will be forced to meet the massive costs of the infrastructure, or (more likely) it'll be opened up to private investors. Privatization of water with such a demand and that kind of infrastructure will quickly mean that you will be paying more for your water than you currently are for fuel. This is inevitable.

I think people are underestimating the point of this thread, and underestimating the threat of water shortage.

Originally posted by TruthxIsxInxThexMist
reply to post by cavalryscout

 

We can live off fruit juice.... tastes much nicer and is more healthy!!

We can also live off coconut milk!!

If you have a garden, grow some fruit!

Most fruit has a high percentage of water...and therefore needs water to produce juice. A little common sense.

Originally posted by TruthxIsxInxThexMist
reply to post by cavalryscout

 

We can live off fruit juice.... tastes much nicer and is more healthy!!

We can also live off coconut milk!!

If you have a garden, grow some fruit!

At the end of the day... World population will be to blame for much problems in the future!

edit on 29-3-2012 by TruthxIsxInxThexMist because: (no reason given)

Plants need water. Where are you planning to get the water to feed the inefficient plants while waiting for (presumably seasonal) fruit to grow?

You may as well cut out the waste and just drink the water.

Originally posted by Biliverdin

Originally posted by TruthxIsxInxThexMist
reply to post by cavalryscout

 

We can live off fruit juice.... tastes much nicer and is more healthy!!

We can also live off coconut milk!!

If you have a garden, grow some fruit!

Most fruit has a high percentage of water...and therefore needs water to produce juice. A little common sense.

Very true.... but.... how about digging a hole, making a pond, fill it with water (which will last a good while), even cover it with plastic so it won't evaporate too fast, then plant your trees, bushes into the pond!!

From detached: Plants need water. Where are you planning to get the water to feed the inefficient plants while waiting for (presumably seasonal) fruit to grow?

You may as well cut out the waste and just drink the water.

You can fill up from an Ocean or Sea and take it back to fill the pond.... you don't drinking water for a pond!!

reply to post by cavalryscout


Imo the problem is not there isn't enough of anything but just too much greed and short term thinking. Our planet is a closed circle with a tiny bit of evaporation out into space. Some processess indeed degrade the quality (think burning gas) so that the waste product can't be used again for the same purpose (or maybe even another).

I like the idea of being frugal with water and I do iut as much as possible. But what is here the final analysis? If everybody including factories consume less water, than less cleansing/processing to be done and then what?

Or is the final analysis that human kind will battle over everything provided there's a need for it?