(January 25, 2018 at 4:51 pm)Khemikal Wrote:(January 25, 2018 at 4:07 pm)Wyrd of Gawd Wrote: Well, Cape Town is next to the ocean and engineers do know how to build desalination plants so maybe they should get busy and bang out six or twelve. And neighborhoods can put in their own water from air machines if they are so inclined. There are multiple solutions to the problem if people really want to do something about it.
I don't think that you could honestly conclude that a dearth of "wanting to" is the reason that Cape Town doesn't have massive desal or condenser arrays. Let's be adults, k?
Water is a big deal, and a problem that all cities will inevitably face, not all of them coastal, or in a humid environment, or capable of funding such projects. Displacement is an inevitable consequence of water shortage. It already happens where there are desal plants, and where there are other novel schemes to capture all sorts of water. It's not just for drinking, industry relies on it, and those solutions rely on industry for funding. I do agree with you, honestly, that we need to make it more of a priority, but reducing it to that, and pointing to desal and condensers...that's just lazy. You know the tune...wish in one hand, shit in the other?
Effectively prioritizing water is -not- telling poor people to build nets in the air. If that's the solution, they (and sooner or later we) are fucked.
So what's the problem and what are the possible solutions?
There are more more people now and there's a greater demand for water. There's also more water available now than there was in the past. Sure, there will be shortages and a lot of pain around the world. But the oceans are full of water. If coastal cities don't build multiple desalination plants then they will decline. That may not be a perfect solution but it is a solution.
Some people want to kill off 80% of the world's population so that the 20% left can get all of the goodies. That's a solution but not a very practical one because the 1%'ers won't be capable of doing the necessary physical work necessary to keep themselves alive.
One solution is to wait until the Earth makes more water but that takes time. The problem is that we may not have enough time.
