Peak Water: Until Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by Syzygys, Jul 9, 2012.

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  1. RJBeery Natural Philosopher Valued Senior Member

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    Wait, it's an "ad hominum" [sic] to call someones perspective Socialist? I just labeled it, you're the one apparently denigrating it.
     
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  3. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Just in:

    " Cost of Soybeans at All-Time High

    As farmers across the U.S. struggle with persistent drought, Soybean costs hit their highest level since 2008. A bushel of Soybeans in Augusts now costs $16.84 as Wheat and corn prices are also on the rise. Unprecedented heat and lack of rain has deteriorated many Midwest crops and it doesn’t look like they’re going to see precipitation any time soon."
     
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  5. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Why doesn't the free market fix it?
     
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  7. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    And you want to abolish all laws and let corporations rule your life, putting anything they want in your air and drinking water. Seems a bit extreme.

    And your fantasy utopia ended with the breakup of the Standard Oil monopoly and the collapse of Enron, those two sterling examples of capitalism.

    Feel free to hang on to it. Also feel free to pay $10/gallon for gas - while thanking the oil companies for their service. But don't worry, everything's fine.
     
  8. RJBeery Natural Philosopher Valued Senior Member

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    Better yet, why doesn't Obama declare an Executive Order for rain?

    I'm sorry but you Chicken Little folks are creepy. It's cool though...blame your general unhappiness in life on corporate boogeymen; meanwhile, I'm checking out of this thread...
     
  9. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Way to avoid the question.
     
  10. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, it is. No, I am not.

    This is MOTS by way of ad homs, also a very cowardly exit, IMHO.

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    Sort - of like the little kid that throws something at you then runs away as fast as his little feet will carry him to avoid the expected response.
     
  11. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    OK dudes, focus and stay on topic or get the hell out of my thread! Nobody gives a shit about your offtopic banter...
     
  12. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    ...way to kill the thread, Syzy.

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  13. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    It is OK if there is nothing more important to say. I just brought attention to an important issue.* If you guys want to fight offtopic, that's what PMs are for.

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    *By the way we have the biggest drought in 50 years...
     
  14. Diode-Man Awesome User Title Registered Senior Member

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    Since solar power gets 30% cheaper every year to produce, I would like to propose that we distill ocean water in massive quantities using solar power.
     
  15. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Just in:

    World over-using underground water reserves for agriculture:

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/10/us-science-environment-water-idUSBRE87713B20120810

    " The world is depleting underground water reserves faster than they can be replenished due to over-exploitation, according to scientists in Canada and the Netherlands.The research suggests about 1.7 billion people, mostly in Asia, are living in areas where underground water reserves and the ecosystems that rely on them are under threat, they said.
    The study, published in the journal Nature, found that 80 percent of the world's aquifers are being used sustainably but this is offset by heavy over-exploitation in a few key areas.
    Those areas included western Mexico, the High Plains and California's Central Valley in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Iran, northern India and parts of northern China."
     
  16. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    I see no surprise there. As I said early on, there's *plenty* of fresh water - it's just that the surplus isn't where it's needed. And engineering can solve that problem when it becomes a *serious* enough problem.
     
  17. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    You could say the same about oil, that it is a problem of location, being in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, instead of in the USA... But a little military can solve the problem...
    Of course your little engineering costs a pretty penny...
     
  18. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Show me where I said a "little" engineering. Like anything else, it's a matter of cost vs need/demand. My point remains - when the need is great enough the cost will be paid. Plus the fact that it CAN be done.
     
  19. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    In your dreams yes, in reality, most often not. Let's say I need a surgery but it costs 50K bucks. I have nothing. Do you think the surgery will be done or not?

    Also, what CAN be done is not always what WILL be done...
     
  20. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    You're resorting to sheer nonsense. When the NEED for water becomes critical enough it WILL be done! Period.
     
  21. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    That's the issue. The need will never get there. We have more than enough water to drink; all the cost of water comes from golf courses, lawns, filling swimming pools, washing clothes, growing strawberries in the desert etc. Those are all things we can give up; a lack of strawberries in Yuma (or an early tee time in Vegas) does not constitute a critical crisis.
     
  22. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    You're helping make my point.

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    There are LOTS of more or less trivial things that could be given up if it becomes necessary. AND once we've conserved ALL we can possibly do, water will still run short for agriculture. And that's when drastic - and expensive - measures will have to applied. Thankfully, that's probably a century or so away - but the time WILL arrive eventually and we'll gladly pay the cost.
     
  23. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Or we will just have to give up living where there is no water, either way.
     
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