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A few questions from reading this: It says that this provides water for 2 billion people. How screwed are they when it runs dry? It says human waste in the hi

A few questions from reading this: It says that this provides water for 2 billion people. How screwed are they when it runs dry? It says human waste in the highest peaks is a contamination problem... I’m not clear on why this is. Doesn’t feces break down cleanly in running water?

kaesar14 7y ago
I don't think anyone can claim to know for sure. The future is murky. What does seem clear is that this will drastically affect weather patterns that South Asian civilization has relied in for millenia, and will definitely stress already compromised water resources, which I would imagine will cause a significant refugee crisis. I'm not entirely sure where those refugees would even go, China? I'm not sure on what you mean on the feces contamination question. Water contaminated by human waste is not safe without treatment for consumption in the slightest.
mdorazio 7y ago
If you follow the linked articles, the estimate of water shortage being an actual problem is on the timescale of roughly 80 years. That's more than enough time to figure out solutions or coordinate emigration to less arid places. So I guess we could say the current generations of people are not super screwed, but their kids will be pretty screwed if no one has taken action in ~50 years. From what I understand, the solid part of feces breaks down pretty quickly, but the bacteria and viruses that actually make people sick can remain a dangerous contaminant in water for some time. It ends up being a question of concentration - lots of water with only a few people = not much of a problem, but lots of people with not much water = big problem.
NeedMoreTea 7y ago
The Indus, Brahmaputra and countless other rivers rise in the Himalayas. I'm not sure what proportion is glacial melt rather than rainfall, but I imagine the probable implications are catastrophic for Northern India, Pakistan and Nepal.
WorldMaker 7y ago
> It says human waste in the highest peaks is a contamination problem... I’m not clear on why this is. Doesn’t feces break down cleanly in running water? Human waste does not break down "cleanly", unfortunately for us all. Human waste in water especially is a giant disease vector, because most of the diseases that human waste spreads themselves are easily waterborne. (There are also non-disease related problems, but the diseases are especially something to try to avoid spreading.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation#Diseases_caused_by_lack_of_sanitation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation#Diseases_caused_by_...

kaesar14 7y ago

I don't think anyone can claim to know for sure. The future is murky. What does seem clear is that this will drastically affect weather patterns that South Asian civilization has relied in for millenia, and will definitely stress already compromised water resources, which I would imagine will cause a significant refugee crisis. I'm not entirely sure where those refugees would even go, China? I'm not sure on what you mean on the feces contamination question. Water contaminated by human waste is not safe without treatment for consumption in the slightest.

mdorazio 7y ago

If you follow the linked articles, the estimate of water shortage being an actual problem is on the timescale of roughly 80 years. That's more than enough time to figure out solutions or coordinate emigration to less arid places. So I guess we could say the current generations of people are not super screwed, but their kids will be pretty screwed if no one has taken action in ~50 years. From what I understand, the solid part of feces breaks down pretty quickly, but the bacteria and viruses that actually make people sick can remain a dangerous contaminant in water for some time. It ends up being a question of concentration - lots of water with only a few people = not much of a problem, but lots of people with not much water = big problem.

NeedMoreTea 7y ago

The Indus, Brahmaputra and countless other rivers rise in the Himalayas. I'm not sure what proportion is glacial melt rather than rainfall, but I imagine the probable implications are catastrophic for Northern India, Pakistan and Nepal.

WorldMaker 7y ago

> It says human waste in the highest peaks is a contamination problem... I’m not clear on why this is. Doesn’t feces break down cleanly in running water? Human waste does not break down "cleanly", unfortunately for us all. Human waste in water especially is a giant disease vector, because most of the diseases that human waste spreads themselves are easily waterborne. (There are also non-disease related problems, but the diseases are especially something to try to avoid spreading.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation#Diseases_caused_by_lack_of_sanitation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation#Diseases_caused_by_...