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Water Shortages Could Affect 5 Billion People By 2050, UNESCO Warns (theguardian.com)
About 3.6 billion people are estimated to be living in areas with a potential for water scarcity for at least one month per year, and this number could rise to as many as 5.7 billion people by 2050, according to a report published by UNESCO [PDF]. From a report: The comprehensive annual study warns of conflict and civilisational threats unless actions are taken to reduce the stress on rivers, lakes, aquifers, wetlands and reservoirs. The World Water Development Report -- released in drought-hit BrasÃlia -- says positive change is possible, particularly in the key agricultural sector, but only if there is a move towards nature-based solutions that rely more on soil and trees than steel and concrete.
"For too long, the world has turned first to human-built, or 'grey', infrastructure to improve water management. In doing so, it has often brushed aside traditional and indigenous knowledge that embraces greener approaches," says Gilbert Houngbo, the chair of UN Water, in the preface of the 100-page assessment. "In the face of accelerated consumption, increasing environmental degradation and the multi-faceted impacts of climate change, we clearly need new ways of manage competing demands on our freshwater resources."
"For too long, the world has turned first to human-built, or 'grey', infrastructure to improve water management. In doing so, it has often brushed aside traditional and indigenous knowledge that embraces greener approaches," says Gilbert Houngbo, the chair of UN Water, in the preface of the 100-page assessment. "In the face of accelerated consumption, increasing environmental degradation and the multi-faceted impacts of climate change, we clearly need new ways of manage competing demands on our freshwater resources."
We get more than enough water for all world falling from the sky here. Finally the shite weather proves to be good for something ;)
What indigenous knowledge is there for managing water? Typically they would just move to another water source if their main one disappeared. Is there some magic tree and soil combination that creates water? My guess is Gilbert Houngbo is one of those African "leaders" who also believes in many crazy things.
Dismissed as bullshit alarmist crap
May be alarmist, but certainly the cracks in the water infrastructure of large cities are showing...
Melbourne, Australia
Mexico City, Mexico
Cape Town, South Africa
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Jakarta, Indonesia
Certainly, we aren't running out of fresh water as a species. However, the fresh water isn't where the people are, and the infrastructure planning to adjust for fluctuations in historical rainfall patterns is lagging greatly.
The problems are likely technically solvable, but may be so expensive that they will serve displace populations (negative growth in mega cities). I don't think 5B people will die of thirst by 2050, but I can certainly imagine that 5B people wouldn't live where they might have been if it weren't for water issues.
Every single one of those can be traced back to overpopulation. The impact of population growth on per capita recoverable rainfall is far greater than global warming. There's three likely ways forward. Mass migration (globalist preferred option). Asia and Africa needs stop shitting out so many children (least likely). Mass die offs (most likely). Regardless of global warming.
A lot of commenters seem to not get that, unless you have a handy solar, wind or tidal powered desalination plant lying around and the capital to build one, living on the coast won't help, as the water is not drinkable. Diseases are spread in marshlands too, so being too near the coast can impact your fresh water supply.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
The Earth is constantly changing which means the old "nature based" ways will also become a nonviable answer. Thanks to climate change, we have vastly accelerated many changes which includes the location of available water resources. Our best bet is to work toward reversing the damage done and desalinate water using a water vapor distillation system (aka slingshot). Yes, these systems require energy but Sol provides us with more than enough energy for such systems.
We absolutely could stretch our water supply further but thanks to a tragedy of the commons coupled with capitalism, it simply won't happen without extreme enforcement measures. We already know that our politicians are spineless, so it's better that we assume the worst case scenario and create out own supply of fresh water.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Once Tech solves the problem, the price will come down substantially.
Heck there are some very well known places that have fairly good DeSal plants supplying water already. There isn't a huge need (yet) therefore it is still expensive.
De-sal plants currently have two big flaws, you need to be near the ocean and you need to dump the brine somewhere. Okay, brine isn't high-level nuclear waste, but there's a lot more of it than high-level nuclear waste...
There's some folks working on making commercial chemical product like sodium bicarbonate calcium chloride from the brine which can finance the processing of the brine. However, right now, people are mostly just dumping the brine (back into the ocean making it locally saltier or into evaporation pools that contaminate the land).
That is the thing Slashdotters don't understand: things don't happen by magic. There isn't some sudden "breakthrough" where you can make desalinated water without a relatively expensive process. No one is going to suddenly create something to save the planet. That only happens in movies.
I am an engineer, but this is not my area of expertise. However, someone should try to honestly answer your questions. The problem that you are getting at is "entropy." It is much easier to burn fuel, emit CO2, and allow it to mix into the atmosphere, than it is to separate it back out and capture it.
Entropy is a thermodynamics term that relates to the amount of "disorder." It is the scrambled egg problem. It is far easier to break the egg and scramble it (add disorder) than to unscramble it and reassemble it (decrease disorder).
Even if one can solve the problem of separating out CO2, "reverse-combust[ing]" it requires energy (and almost certainly more than was put in originally).
There is a similar answer related to desalination (easier to add salt to water than to separate the two). There are people working on making desalination better, but it is still an energy intensive process.
However, you could do your part and support caring about the environment, making it clear to your elected representatives that you do, and voting for the more environmentally friendly candidate.
Don't worry about it. By that time, Nestle will be selling water to your kids. Just get filthy rich and everything will be fine.
To extract fresh water from sea-water, you have to separate the H2O molecules from whatever other crap has been dissolved. That includes virus particles and metal elements; salts, sodium, calcium, chloride, mercury, etc... First way is through porous membranes or micorpore clay filters. Then you have to force the water through these at pressure. That takes energy. You can try evaporating the water. That too requires energy to make the water reach 100C. Even if you tried to force the water into a vacuuum to lower the boiling point that will still take energy - either from pumping air out or from propellor cavitation. Some systems use solar power, others use tidal wave power. Nuclear is the most attractive.
They are working on generating bio-fuels from captured CO2.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
This must be totally coincidental! Also, are you sure these are not fake news?
In other news, many people are too stupid to see a looming catastrophe when it stares them in the face.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
In the credits or annotations at the end of "The Big Short" (or here), it is noted that one of the players, Michael Burry or Ben Hockett, is focusing on water futures. At the time I was thinking, here's a guy who manages to see things that only become obvious in retrospect.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
In Civ, you have to wait until you build up to a Roman level of technology.
Recycle more, use more biodegradable packaging etc, turn poo into power or fertiliser, make industry and people waste less water, grow more food on newly reclaimed land, farm and manufacture more efficiently, lots more renewable power generation - there are lots of things that can be done to make people on this planet less wasteful but that takes a mindset change for a lot of the idiots out there that deny climate change.
"The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)