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Scientists Discover Huge Freshwater Reserves Beneath the Ocean
An anonymous reader writes "Scientists have discovered huge freshwater reserves beneath the seabed on continental shelves off the coast of Australia, North America, China and South Africa. 'The volume of this water resource is a hundred times greater than the amount we've extracted from the Earth's sub-surface in the past century since 1900. Fresh water on our planet is increasingly under stress and strain so the discovery of significant new stores off the coast is very exciting. It means that more options can be considered to help reduce the impact of droughts and continental water shortages' says Dr Vincent Post of the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) and the School of the Environment at Flinders University."
You jest, but a change in salinity could have a big impact.
Indeed it could, just read up a bit about thermohaline circulation and you'll see why some people are worried not just about sea-level rise from melting polar ice.
"Total destruction the only solution" - Bob Marley
The U.S. spends 4.7% of GDP on the military. I don't think its gone over 5% since the 60s.
The water mentioned in the article is not fresh water - it is low salinity water and it still has to go through desalinization plant.
However, it would, maybe, be cheaper to desalinize than ocean water.