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Comment by RIMR | Hacker News Reader

It is startling to me how much we disregard water scarcity. It seems like there's a persistent attitude that because we haven't run out of water to a dangerous degree before, it will never happen, even as the numbers suggest we are marching directly into a significant drought event.

I worry that the gears of capitalism will refuse to stop turning even as we face significant mortality as a result of dehydration, because our biggest and most profitable industries rely on a mindboggling quantity of fresh water.

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It’s a good thing that a mindbogglingly large amount of fresh water falls on us every year, for free.

2 billion people rely on quickly melting glaciers, a lot of water tables that depend on rainfall aren't being replenished at the rate they're being emptied.

You can cover your ears and ignore physics all you want. If you take out more water from an ecosystem than what is coming in, eventually you run out.

> If you take out more water from an ecosystem than what is coming in, eventually you run out.

That's fine, people will move elsewhere. Unless the water is literally disappearing from the planet.

Sure, and the people who live near oceans can just sell their houses and move as sea levels rise.

People forced to migrate due to fresh water scarcity will migrate to where fresh water can be found, which is likely where other people already are, increasing pressure on the increasingly scarce water and other resources in that area, driving conflict, disease, famine, further migration into increasingly stressed areas and leading to social and ecological collapse across the board.

Access to reliable fresh water is foundational to stable society.

> That's fine, people will move elsewhere

That's how one creates a refugee crisis. All those thirsty people fleeing an area where the lack of water has made their property worthless...

They will need somewhere to go, and housing and jobs when they get there - and if they don't find it, that's when things get dicey all round.

Look at what's happening in Sri Lanka or the middle east (drought causing famine was a catalyst to the arab spring) for an example of what happens when people try to move elsewhere.

It seems unlikely to continue if the local water table is dry

Wow, you're a genius, you should call up the UN and tell them they just forgot about rain! Problem solved!

Is this statement a version of "actually, there isn't a problem"? Because if you're dismissing what's happening, all I can do is implore you to look into this issue with a curious and open mind.

It’s easy to disregard when a bottle of water from somewhere in the world is readily available in a plastic bottle in my soda machine for a dollar. A water business is wild.

We have a virtually infinite amount of water. The oceans are full of it. When the time comes (if the time comes), we will build desalination plants at scale.

So no, water will not run out, it will simply cost more to use.

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