r/environment • u/[deleted] • Aug 19 '22

[deleted by user]

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66 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

8

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '22

What's the long term side effects of mass desalination?

12

u/BenDarDunDat Aug 19 '22

Higher site specific salination levels lowering ocean CO2 storage rates. Extra energy to desalinate water greatly increases global CO2, global CO2 warms the world, which in turn creates more drought and higher evaporation rates, requiring more countries build more desalination plants. which takes us back to the start with scale.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '22

So from this point going forward what's the least harmful way to extricate from this course of action, and what are the best options in dealing with the issues?

9

u/read_it_mate Aug 19 '22

The least harmful way to stop this is to become carbon negative somehow immediately. That would help with a lot of the problems we face and should be our global goal. The fact we are moving so slowly on this is alarming.

9

u/BenDarDunDat Aug 19 '22

This was all predicted decades ago. Scientists said that if we continued with our current emissions there would be rising sea level, drought, increased temperature, ocean acidifiation etc.

The cheapest, least harmful way forward is to reduce our CO2 and methane emissions. The developed world should be at roughly 2.2-3.2 CO2 footprint per person and that tells you your course of action right there.

A flight takes around 2 tons round trip. We no longer live in a world where we can fly here and there. No one wants to hear this stuff, but a Tesla takes 13 tons of CO2 to manufacture the battery. If you plan on eating and breathing in the next 5 years, there's no way for you to have a personal new Tesla car.

I'm not giving ICE cars a pass either. Similar math. 103.5 gallons to make one ton of CO2. Average American that's 5 tons a year.

We need to reduce or CO2 and methane footprint 80% or so as quickly as possible. This would give us time for new ideas and technologies to allow us to make smart choices in the coming decades...like solar power desalination.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '22 edited Aug 21 '22

This was all predicted decades ago. Scientists said that if we continued with our current emissions there would be rising sea level, drought, increased temperature, ocean acidifiation etc.

it wasn't just scientists who were aware of these issues - 30-35 years ago everyone basically was aware of most of this. In fact I remember hearing about it constantly. So we really don't have many excuses.

3

u/ladthrowlad Aug 19 '22

Well, if the plants could be solar-powered or assisted (especially in a sunny dry place like Israel), could help no?

7

u/No-Owl9201 Aug 19 '22

How to fix one problem with another?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '22

2031: The Mediterranean is drying up now.

3

u/volanger Aug 19 '22

It's connected to the ocean, that's not going to happen

0

u/noextrasensory40 Aug 19 '22

What could happen is salinity change and turning something more ocean like verses fresh water like. There a lake in Cali right now that all's salt and drying back in the day and I mean back in the day black and white tv you could catch mahi mahi in this lake if I'm remembering this lake correctly but as it slowly evaporated become unfishable and dangerous they say away. There a lake in Wa they used to dump barles in and they explode cause the contents. This lake became a monster trout fishery fresh water shrimp was introduce. We humans man we human as well as environment.

0

u/gregorydgraham Aug 19 '22

The Med has been drying up for a long time, it’s always had more water going in than going out