4 ms·
Curious how many gallons can be removed from oceans before it causes significant impact. I realize it would require a massive amount but given the insatiable n
by ck2 11y ago
Curious how many gallons can be removed from oceans before it causes significant impact.
I realize it would require a massive amount but given the insatiable need for clean water, over a century it could add up?
- rconti 11y agoCurrently the major concerns (as I understand them) are the death of marine life near the intakes, and the consequences of discharging extremely salty wastewater (again, into a relatively limited area). If you could spread the wastewater across the entire ocean, probably not as big an impact. Possibly none, as the desalinated water eventually makes its way back to the ocean anyway.
- fredgrott 11y agoevaporating the waste water gives the side benefit of being able to mine both salt and other minerals known to be in ocean water such as gold, etc.
- brixon 11y agoFreshwater makes up a very small fraction of all water on the planet. While nearly 70 percent of the world is covered by water, only 2.5 percent of it is fresh. The rest is saline and ocean-based. Even then, just 1 percent of our freshwater is easily accessible, with much of it trapped in glaciers and snowfields. In essence, only 0.007 percent of the planet's water is available to fuel and feed its 6.8 billion people. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/freshwater-crisis/ http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshw... I don't think we need to stress about taking water from the ocean.
- oofabz 11y agoThe water is not destroyed, it ends up back in the ocean.
- manicdee 10y agoThe major concerns are the raised salinity and reduced oxygen content of the effluent. Sea life basically dies around the egress pipes for desalination plants.