Offshore fresh groundwater reserves as a global phenomenon | Hacker News Reader

Offshore fresh groundwater reserves as a global phenomenon

nature.com

23 points001sky9 comments

As I read about the offshore drilling strategies, the first thought that came to my mind was, "At least a drilling accident resulting in a leak is unlikely to do much environmental damage to the ocean and the beaches near the rig."

http://www.sci-news.com/geology/science-fresh-groundwater-re...

>"Knowing about these [non-renewable] reserves is great news because this volume of water could sustain some regions for decades"

Let's destroy a 100,000 year old fresh water ecosystem so we can push off sustainable water systems for a few decades!

Liquidate our ecological life-support system and name it "growth"? Not a smart move, space monkeys.

http://i.imgur.com/gH0VvPD.jpg

At the rate we are daming rivers, we will destroy many river ecosystems. This seems less harmful than dams and could be a bridge until the energy costs of desalination are low enough .

If this discovery spurs investment in desalination (since this is simply cheaper desalination due to the lower salinity) that would an added benefit as it would accelerate the move toward desalination. Perhaps we could skip the dams entirely.

We could stop and reverse damming rivers. That's another alternative. Less people living in deserts. Less people in general.

I'd rather pursue those than start messing with yet another part of the planet.

Energy prices are unlikely to be low enough to support desalination in our life times. Water prices will have to rise to support it.

For it to be an ecosystem it needs a community of living organisms. If they find no living organisms in the water it isn't any more of an ecosystem than an oil well is. In fact onshore aquifers have very low levels of bacteria which makes them a good source of drinking water. I understand that there may be negative consequences but it is worth more research.

Ecosystems can be difficult to detect, since they're not always extensive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_fall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotroph

Of course, the point isn't whether or not it's an ecosystem. The point is that we just discovered this, and already we contemplate destroy it. We should first figure out what role it plays in planetary dynamics.

I clicked the link and here is what I am greeted with:

"Purchase article full text and PDF: £22"

Seriously..

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