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> That’s the conclusion of a new report published this week by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water—a group of leading scientists and economists form

by Sakos 2y ago

> That’s the conclusion of a new report published this week by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water—a group of leading scientists and economists formed in 2022 whose mission is to assess the state of Earth’s hydrological systems and how those systems are being managed. The results are not encouraging. The report finds that demand for fresh water will outstrip supply by more than 40 percent by the end of the decade, mostly due to stresses caused by climate change. We're marching ourselves straight into disaster that will affect hundreds of millions of people. Are we ever going to wake up and do something about it as a species?

muthuh 2y ago
Doesn't look like it :( too busy with our 'smart'phones.
ok_dad 2y ago
Yea, we’ll use all the power useful for making clean water from the ocean for AI, and the shareholders will be so happy they can continue to extract value from those aquifers for a while longer :)
- ThrowAaaaway 2y ago
  It's possible to use waste heat to evaporate water, to make drinking water from salt water, but it's unpractical to build datacenter on a shore, or pump salt water uphil to a datacenter.
  - aspenmayer 2y ago
    Seems like Microsoft and Google are trying to make it work. How Oceans are Being Used to Cool Massive Data Centres [2017] https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-oceans-are-being-used-to-cool-massive-data-centres/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-oceans-are-being-used-to... Alternative Water Cooling Sources for Data Centers [2019] https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/ashrae-journal/featured-articles/alternative-water-cooling-sources-for-data-centers https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/ashrae-journal/fe... > While the temperature of surface ocean water can fluctuate seasonally, it can still be a valuable source of cooling. In hot regions such as the Middle East, surface seawater as high as 90°F (32°C) is used for condenser cooling with conventional systems. This is because even the higher temperature water is more efficient than air cooling and using potable water for evaporative cooling is not allowed due to water use restrictions. Feasibility study and multi-objective optimization of seawater cooling systems for data centers: A case study of Caspian Sea [2021] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213138821005397 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S22131... https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101528 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101528
  - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
    Evaporating water is not the best way to desalinate water as it's inevitably energy intensive (though waste heat makes that less of an issue). It seems unlikely that datacenters will produce enough waste heat to supply populations with drinking water.
card_zero 2y ago
Have we ever done anything as a species?
- dymk 2y ago
  Tokyo metro is pretty cool
  - card_zero 2y ago
    This is true, but I tend to think many of us did not participate in the project.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
EnigmaFlare 2y ago
[dead]
euroderf 2y ago
Dunno. Which alternative creates more shareholder value ?
ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
It seems like efforts to fix our problems are being deliberately sabotaged by wealthy corporations as they attempt to squeeze as much profit as they can before our inevitable civilisation collapse. Personally, I think the best way to make progress would be to remove the billionaires first as they are working against the majority's interests.
- OccamsMirror 2y ago
  That's not cool, man. I'm totally planning on becoming a billionaire! How else will I be able to afford the bunker of my dreams to protect my family from the incoming calamity?
- jebebeebehhe 2y ago
  Communism. (I say as a non-pejorative) I wonder if there is a way to make that work. Or decent socialism. Co-ops > Corps.
  - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
    I think there has to be some controls put on Capitalism as currently, all the incentives are for corporations/businesses to exploit natural resources as fast as possible with hardly any incentives to protect habitats (including ours).
- 0xEF 2y ago
  It's called Accelerationism. Those with the resources to weather the collapse feel it is their duty to bring it about so they can restart civilization "correctly" this time.

by Sakos 2y ago

muthuh 2y ago

Doesn't look like it :( too busy with our 'smart'phones.

ok_dad 2y ago

Yea, we’ll use all the power useful for making clean water from the ocean for AI, and the shareholders will be so happy they can continue to extract value from those aquifers for a while longer :)

ThrowAaaaway 2y ago
It's possible to use waste heat to evaporate water, to make drinking water from salt water, but it's unpractical to build datacenter on a shore, or pump salt water uphil to a datacenter.
- aspenmayer 2y ago
  Seems like Microsoft and Google are trying to make it work. How Oceans are Being Used to Cool Massive Data Centres [2017] https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-oceans-are-being-used-to-cool-massive-data-centres/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-oceans-are-being-used-to... Alternative Water Cooling Sources for Data Centers [2019] https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/ashrae-journal/featured-articles/alternative-water-cooling-sources-for-data-centers https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/ashrae-journal/fe... > While the temperature of surface ocean water can fluctuate seasonally, it can still be a valuable source of cooling. In hot regions such as the Middle East, surface seawater as high as 90°F (32°C) is used for condenser cooling with conventional systems. This is because even the higher temperature water is more efficient than air cooling and using potable water for evaporative cooling is not allowed due to water use restrictions. Feasibility study and multi-objective optimization of seawater cooling systems for data centers: A case study of Caspian Sea [2021] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213138821005397 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S22131... https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101528 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101528
- ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
  Evaporating water is not the best way to desalinate water as it's inevitably energy intensive (though waste heat makes that less of an issue). It seems unlikely that datacenters will produce enough waste heat to supply populations with drinking water.

card_zero 2y ago

Have we ever done anything as a species?

dymk 2y ago
Tokyo metro is pretty cool
- card_zero 2y ago
  This is true, but I tend to think many of us did not participate in the project.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

EnigmaFlare 2y ago

[dead]

euroderf 2y ago

Dunno. Which alternative creates more shareholder value ?

ndsipa_pomu 2y ago

It seems like efforts to fix our problems are being deliberately sabotaged by wealthy corporations as they attempt to squeeze as much profit as they can before our inevitable civilisation collapse. Personally, I think the best way to make progress would be to remove the billionaires first as they are working against the majority's interests.

OccamsMirror 2y ago
That's not cool, man. I'm totally planning on becoming a billionaire! How else will I be able to afford the bunker of my dreams to protect my family from the incoming calamity?
jebebeebehhe 2y ago
Communism. (I say as a non-pejorative) I wonder if there is a way to make that work. Or decent socialism. Co-ops > Corps.
- ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
  I think there has to be some controls put on Capitalism as currently, all the incentives are for corporations/businesses to exploit natural resources as fast as possible with hardly any incentives to protect habitats (including ours).
0xEF 2y ago
It's called Accelerationism. Those with the resources to weather the collapse feel it is their duty to bring it about so they can restart civilization "correctly" this time.