Environment & Energy

xchrom

(108,903 posts) Thu Dec 5, 2013, 09:38 AM Dec 2013

Scientists: Vast freshwater reserves trapped beneath ocean floor could sustain future generations

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/05/scientists-vast-freshwater-reserves-trapped-beneath-ocean-floor-could-sustain-future-generations/

Australian researchers said Thursday they had established the existence of vast freshwater reserves trapped beneath the ocean floor which could sustain future generations as current sources dwindle.

Lead author Vincent Post, from Australia’s Flinders University, said that an estimated 120,000 cubic miles of low-salinity water had been found buried beneath the seabed on continental shelves off Australia, China, North America and South Africa.

“The volume of this water resource is a hundred times greater than the amount we’ve extracted from the Earth’s sub-surface in the past century since 1900,” said Post of the study, published in the latest edition of Nature.

“Freshwater on our planet is increasingly under stress and strain so the discovery of significant new stores off the coast is very exciting.

5 replies

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Scientists: Vast freshwater reserves trapped beneath ocean floor could sustain future generations (Original Post) xchrom Dec 2013 OP

wanna make bets on how quick it's monetized stuntcat Dec 2013 #1

What is it people don't get about sustainibility? hunter Dec 2013 #2

The problem with that The2ndWheel Dec 2013 #3

What people don't get about "sustainability" is that it's a semantically empty word. GliderGuider Dec 2013 #4

What would be the point? FBaggins Dec 2013 #5

stuntcat

(12,022 posts)

1. wanna make bets on how quick it's monetized

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 12:13 PM

Dec 2013

anyway water IS worth more than gold, and some people know very well how precious it will be.

Gosh I just can't wait to watch the fights we'll throw over water the next few decades!!

hunter

(38,312 posts)

2. What is it people don't get about sustainibility?

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:15 PM

Dec 2013

Sure, fossil water, great for today, future generations be damned.

The seventh generation rule is a good one, yet it is a minimal requirement.

Ideally we ought to leave this world a better place for living here, restoring as best we can that which has already been lost.

The2ndWheel

(7,947 posts)

3. The problem with that

Reply to hunter (Reply #2)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:38 PM

Dec 2013

is that those who practiced the 7th generation rule don't have much left, because those that didn't practice the rule took it from them. Technically, the 7th generation rule eventually ended up not being sustainable, as they weren't able to sustain it in the face of adversity.

Which is the weird and scary part of sustainability; you ultimately don't really know what is or isn't sustainable, and sustainability can't be guaranteed.

GliderGuider

(21,088 posts)

4. What people don't get about "sustainability" is that it's a semantically empty word.

Reply to hunter (Reply #2)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 04:20 PM

Dec 2013

Last edited Thu Dec 5, 2013, 04:58 PM - Edit history (1)

A truly "sustainable" world population is probably somewhere between 7 and 35 million people. And that's without oil, coal, gas, nuclear power or any energy source that relies largely on metals for its technology. Wood fires, windmills, water wheels and draft animals only.

Anything more than that is unsustainable. Period.

FBaggins

(26,737 posts)

5. What would be the point?

Reply to xchrom (Original post)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 04:36 PM

Dec 2013

Any area that can access water beneath the sea floor can certainy access the ocean itself. How much harder would plan desalination of seawater be than offshore rigs drilling for water?

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