75% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, I think we'll be fine.

Civilizations drank alcohol for years because it was the best way to consume water.

/Then some people looked up in 19th century America, realized almost everyone was an alcoholic, started a temperance movement, and through the 18th amendment they became Assholes That Ruined It For The Rest Of Us™.

Water, not oil, will be the cause of WWIII.

Walker: 75% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, I think we'll be fine.

We'll be fine after governments are forced to commit major money into desalinization projects. A lot of the world will suffer unbelievably first.

And then the inevitable robot wars will wipe us all out.

Bob_Laublaw: Walker: 75% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, I think we'll be fine.

We'll be fine after governments are forced to commit major money into desalinization projects. A lot of the world will suffer unbelievably first.

And then the inevitable robot wars will wipe us all out.

The only other problem is that desalination takes a lot of power capacity that we don't have right now. People are going to have to radically change their habits.

GAT_00: People are going to have to radically change their habits.

Very true. My take on human behaviour is such that the necessary habiatchanges won't be voluntary at first; they'll be legislated & enforced until we suffer to the point where they're voluntary.

The only other problem is that desalination takes a lot of power capacity that we don't have right now.

Yup. Necessity is the mother of invention, and world governments will collaborate & develop the technologies required.

That is, once they've no other choice:)

Dept of Water and Power, anyone?
/too lazy to find a pic.

Ah, and so the worm begins to turn. When the Southwest begins to dry up and blow away, and people start realizing that maybe moving to a desert with several million other people isn't the best strategy, I'll be drinking beer in a boat on top of one quarter of the world's freshwater.

You Farkers won't be bad-mouthing Michigan then.

VictoryCabal: Ah, and so the worm begins to turn. When the Southwest begins to dry up and blow away, and people start realizing that maybe moving to a desert with several million other people isn't the best strategy, I'll be drinking beer in a boat on top of one quarter of the world's freshwater.

You Farkers won't be bad-mouthing Michigan then.

This...

Bob_Laublaw: habiatchanges

The filter is your friend and your enemy.

Austin has plenty of water. Northern California will someday rule Southern California, and I will sit and laugh as the Bay Area makes Los Angeles its slave.

VictoryCabal: Ah, and so the worm begins to turn. When the Southwest begins to dry up and blow away, and people start realizing that maybe moving to a desert with several million other people isn't the best strategy, I'll be drinking beer in a boat on top of one quarter of the world's freshwater.

You Farkers won't be bad-mouthing Michigan then.

Oh, you don't really think that that water is going to stay in the Great Lakes, do you? It'll be the greatest make-work project ever: the pipeline from Lake Michigan to the Colorado River, with aqueducts throughout the farm belt--because that Ogallala Aquifer is getting pretty dry too.

/How's the lovely lake doing these days, anyway? The last time I saw it, it was down several feet already.

Begun the Water Wars have.

Yes, the chinese boats that come in, drop off their ash borer insects and fill up with Great Lake water before sailing back to Asia isn't a problem.

cryinoutloud: /How's the lovely lake doing these days, anyway? The last time I saw it, it was down several feet already.

Can't speak to the other lakes, but Lake Huron has been on an upswing. Not up to "regular" levels yet, but higher than it has been the past few years.

who cares?
stop living in deserts
stop breeding like rats
start building desalination plants (oooo and get power too? see solar thermal energy)

YAWN

best part about drought?
will lower the world population

How's about STOP WATERING YOUR farkING LAWNS.

Plant some native grasses already that don't need to be babied. Dumping clean water on dirt so that an alien grass can grow just long enough to cut it every weekend is quite possibly the least sensible thing we do as a culture.

cryinoutloud:
Oh, you don't really think that that water is going to stay in the Great Lakes, do you? It'll be the greatest make-work project ever: the pipeline from Lake Michigan to the Colorado River, with aqueducts throughout the farm belt--because that Ogallala Aquifer is getting pretty dry too.

/How's the lovely lake doing these days, anyway? The last time I saw it, it was down several feet already.

We don't care about your water problems. The rest of the country voted to fark us when we needed help. Get bent! Die in a drought!

/kidding. But you'll never get the Great Lakes. Seriously. Don't count on it. You'll need to win a civil war first.

soze: Plant some native grasses already that don't need to be babied. Dumping clean water on dirt so that an alien grass can grow just long enough to cut it every weekend is quite possibly the least sensible thing we do as a culture.

Pretty much everything mainstream culture has valued in the past 15-30 years is the least sensible thing we do. Watering our lawns. Buying big houses. Buying big cars. Refusing to acknowledge global warming. Refusing to acknowledge oil shortages will happen. Thinking 4000 calories is the daily goal. Rejecting the outdoors and exercise.

cryinoutloud: VictoryCabal: Ah, and so the worm begins to turn. When the Southwest begins to dry up and blow away, and people start realizing that maybe moving to a desert with several million other people isn't the best strategy, I'll be drinking beer in a boat on top of one quarter of the world's freshwater.

You Farkers won't be bad-mouthing Michigan then.

Oh, you don't really think that that water is going to stay in the Great Lakes, do you? It'll be the greatest make-work project ever: the pipeline from Lake Michigan to the Colorado River, with aqueducts throughout the farm belt--because that Ogallala Aquifer is getting pretty dry too.

/How's the lovely lake doing these days, anyway? The last time I saw it, it was down several feet already.

This will never happen.

And what freshwater is present will be privatized by multinational corporations through the simple expedient of bribing corrupt government officials.

So you'll have to pay huge just for the allowance necessary to survive.

/Clean air is next.

Use a jiz rag instead of the sink, Farkers!

So is 2025 the new 2012 now? When can I start asking people if I can have their stuff?

Fark It: This will never happen.

More likely than you think. The SW is getting dry quick, and the only way, aside from desalination, to get it water is the Great Lakes. They're trying to stabilize the Orgallala but if they don't, then they most certainly will drain the Great Lakes to keep the breadbasket flowing.

So I talked to my father-in-law about this. He works for a water filtration company.

1. The problem is transporting the water. Northern California has flooding right now. So Cal has a drought. If water gets expensive enough then a pipeline will be created... or people will move.

2. As far a contamination goes... most contamination can be cleared up by filtration. Yes it's more expensive and yes you gotta be sure not to contaminate the water with stuff you can't filter out or that's hard to filter out.

3. He said desalination probably wouldn't be necessary, but that it shouldn't be a problem. There's a lot of water on this earth. Just think of the amount of earth in America and then think about 3/4 of the earth being covered in water.

Relax... and get your pocketbook ready.

GroverCleveland: When can I start asking people if I can have their stuff?

Honestly, there's no time like the present.

sloppy shoes: soze: Plant some native grasses already that don't need to be babied. Dumping clean water on dirt so that an alien grass can grow just long enough to cut it every weekend is quite possibly the least sensible thing we do as a culture.

Pretty much everything mainstream culture has valued in the past 15-30 years is the least sensible thing we do. Watering our lawns. Buying big houses. Buying big cars. Refusing to acknowledge global warming. Refusing to acknowledge oil shortages will happen. Thinking 4000 calories is the daily goal. Rejecting the outdoors and exercise.

4000? You want us to starve to death?!?

Have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water?

THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN SOLVED ALREADY MORANS

Link (new window)

I always knew that someday "Ice Pirates" would become true.

http://www.flowthefilm.com/ (new window) Watch this.

Wait, what about all that fresh water in arctic ice that is supposedly melting? Why don't we use that?

These are two problems that, when combined, become a solution.

VictoryCabal: Ah, and so the worm begins to turn. When the Southwest begins to dry up and blow away, and people start realizing that maybe moving to a desert with several million other people isn't the best strategy, I'll be drinking beer in a boat on top of one quarter of the world's freshwater.

You Farkers won't be bad-mouthing Michigan then.

It depends which part of the desert Southwest you mean.

BAD: Las Vegas will be well and truly screwed if Lake Mead gets below replenishment level. Vegas has no environmental sustenance and was originally built as a way-station.

GOOD: All the major population centers in New Mexico (Santa Fe, ABQ, Las Cruces) are on the Rio Grande. No problem there.

BAD: Cities like Tucson and Sierra Vista depend on river systems in a mountain range with sketchy consistency as far as precipitation goes, and have less aquifer reserves.

GOOD: Phoenix sits atop the largest groundwater aquifer in the southwest and is projected to be good-to-go for another century, with new rains and snowmelts actually being pumped IN to the ground to stack it.

BAD: Reservoirs throughout southern Utah, parts of Arizona, and southeastern California are at low levels and highly susceptible to evaporation.

GOOD: Snowmelts across the Colorado plateau (covering parts of four states) have been strong for about 3 years running, putting freshwater supplies at the point of accretion in good shape... as long as they're tapped before the summer evaps rev up.

So, yeah, basically you should learn what you're talking about before you expound. As for Michigan, it's a perfect climate and soil area for agriculture and any number of other productive industries, but the population's own corruption has made it a wasteland. Fix your people, and let the southwest worry about fixing its supply chain.

Just watch. Canada will use the situation to take over the world.

Meh.

world is gonna end 12/20/2012 or something like that so I couldn't care less about anything past that.


/got all my eggs in that basket
//has Nostradamus ever been wrong?
///think not
////dont drink water, I like Gatorade G2

soze: How's about STOP WATERING YOUR farkING LAWNS.

Plant some native grasses already that don't need to be babied. Dumping clean water on dirt so that an alien grass can grow just long enough to cut it every weekend is quite possibly the least sensible thing we do as a culture.

THIS with a gigantic T.

Xeriscape if you're in the desert. Natural foliage if you're in the basin and range or the plains. Natural forest floorage if you're in deciduous country. This entire country doesn't have to be a god damned park.

Bob_Laublaw: Walker: 75% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, I think we'll be fine.

We'll be fine after governments are forced to commit major money into desalinization projects. A lot of the world will suffer unbelievably first.

And then the inevitable robot wars will wipe us all out.

zombies had first dibs on killing the humans first

GAT_00: Fark It: This will never happen.

More likely than you think. The SW is getting dry quick, and the only way, aside from desalination, to get it water is the Great Lakes. They're trying to stabilize the Orgallala but if they don't, then they most certainly will drain the Great Lakes to keep the breadbasket flowing.

The recently passed Great Lakes Compact forbids this. If the Southwestern U.S. wants water they should realize they live in a desert and cut back on the swimming pools, golf courses, poor planning, etc.

/the one positive to come from the Bush years, besides Obama, is the Great Lakes Compact.

Does this mean I won't have to bathe anymore?

BRAWNDO!!!!!

It's got electrolytes.

See Global Warming will fix this. More warming = More Evaporation = More Rain. More reason to praise Global Warming.

Mister_farking_Twister: Meh.

world is gonna end 12/20/2012 or something like that so I couldn't care less about anything past that.


/got all my eggs in that basket
//has Nostradamus ever been wrong?
///think not
////dont drink water, I like Gatorade G2

The Mayans would like to have a word with you.

VictoryCabal: Ah, and so the worm begins to turn. When the Southwest begins to dry up and blow away, and people start realizing that maybe moving to a desert with several million other people isn't the best strategy, I'll be drinking beer in a boat on top of one quarter of the world's freshwater.

You Farkers won't be bad-mouthing Michigan then.

HIGH-FIVE!

"I am Dr Paul Flammond. I am a prisoner here, just like you.
A year ago, I was close to perfecting
the first magnetic desalinisation process.
So revolutionary, it was capable of removing the salt
from over million gallons of sea water a day.
Do you realise what that could mean to the starving nations of the earth?"


"They'd have enough salt to last forever."

VictoryCabal: Ah, and so the worm begins to turn. When the Southwest begins to dry up and blow away, and people start realizing that maybe moving to a desert with several million other people isn't the best strategy, I'll be drinking beer in a boat on top of one quarter of the world's freshwater.

You Farkers won't be bad-mouthing Michigan then.

Just wait until Global Cooling is the next big issue.... You Farkers won't be bad-mouthing the Southwest then.

pope183: THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN SOLVED ALREADY MORANS

Link (new window)



I would like to buy her. Bath her in dehydrated water and bring her to me.

/link is oh so very hot

Time to don the stillsuit and wait for Muad'Dib.

sloppy shoes: Don't count on it. You'll need to win a civil war first.

Somehow, I think we'll manage. Fallout sinks to the bottom, and the water becomes drinkable within days.

This is one of three reasons that I drink my own urine.

/sterile
//like the taste

A well-written story (new window) about the Canadian view of the upcoming possible water shortage.

Oh well, China was the only nation with the balls to confront a growing population in regions that don't have the infrastructure or resources to support more people.

Every time there's an international stage for conservationism it seems reducing population growth is off limits, despite the radical benefits it would have for the future health of the third world.

The Christian fundies take the go forth and multiply seriously, the Muslims are hell bent on using their womens' wombs to make Islam dominate the globe, the liberals in Europe don't want to appear anti-brown people.