If global warming will cause flooding, why don't we de-salinate, then there will be no more water shortages?

Question

This would surely kill two birds with one stone.

Answer 1

Huh. I don't see why people don't look at the facts. There is more land forming underwater, and land is eroding away faster. With or without Global Warming, we're going to be underwater in the future.
But good point.

Answer 2

Well I don't buy into this whole global warming thing at least not as far as mans contribution to it. I think desalinization would be a great idea. Many middle east country's get much of their fresh water by that very process. Naval ships get their fresh water that way too. Its not like we would ever run out of water as most of the planet is made up of it.

Answer 3

Two reasons. Firstly desalination is very expensive and requires a lot of energy to do. Generation of this energy contributes to glaobal warming.
Secondly it would be physically impossible to desalinate enough water to offset the increasing sea level due to global warming.

Desalination will in the future be used to deal with water shortages but due to the economics the situatuation will have to be a lot worse than it is now before it happens. It will though be a drop in the ocean (no pun intended) in comparison to the extra water pouring into the sea from the melting polar ice caps.

Answer 4

Global warming will lead to increased evaporation of the moisture in soils, thus increasing the demands on irrigation. Another huge source of concern is the changed weather patterns -some believe the droughts in Africa in the last decades, which were cause when the seasonal rains failed, was because of the changed temperature. Global warming is leading to rising sea levels -roughly 3 mm/year. If the major glaciars, such as Greenland, would melt it would lead to a significant rise -6.5 meters.

Answer 5

Where would we put all the salt? Why on the fish and chips of course ;)

Hmm I don't think flooding and then desalination is the answer. It might be best to try to avoid all the flooding altogether ;)

That is going to take some very hard decisions to be made, but probably best to avoid the flooding, than trying to cope with it! Besides if we ate fish and chips every day life would be a little bland ;)

Answer 6

Desalination would help but are you prepared to payr the price? The most effective way to power a desalination plant is good old Uranium, any other power source would be too environmentally expensive by comparison. You have to then look at whether you want to take that step, many don't

Answer 7

It would also kill all the marine life in the oceans. Since the earth is 2/3 water, it would be physically impossible to desalinate the entire planet, and where would we put all that salt so that it would not get back into the oceans or poison the land for agricultural production?

Answer 8

And what do you think happens to the water after we use it? desalinating water takes a lot of energy which will add to global warming.

Answer 9

If that was such a great idea, why didnt the governement came up with it theirselves? They dont need to harm mother Earth any longer.

Answer 10

many reasons but the main one is that the cost of de-salination plants is huge because the technology is still in it's infancy