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Only 2.5% of the world's water is fresh water. The rest is salty. Why should we restrict ourselves to only using fresh water? Ocean water can be converted to fresh water through the use of desalination plants. Saudi Arabia has no natural rivers or lakes and it has among the lowest amounts of annual rainfall in the world but they still have water to drink. 59% of their water comes from their 27 desalination plants across the country. These plants allow people to tap into oceans, which account for 97.5% of Earth's water. Countries should invest money into building these to reduce their reliance on groundwater. Also, salt water can be used for agriculture. Currently, 70% of the water humans use is put towards agriculture. All of it doesn't have to be fresh water like it is now. Farmers can grow salt-tolerant plants with salt water. There are 350 known species of salt-tolerant plants that could be used as crops and they have a variety of uses. Some are good for firewood and some could be used as biofuel. They can also be eaten and are high in nutrients but also high in salt. Plant species that are harvested for food can also be genetically modified to be salt-tolerant, allowing them to be irrigated with seawater. Money could be allocated for research to make this possible. These are just a few ways in which ocean water could be put to use. I think the world needs to start using ocean water because there is not enough fresh water to sustain growing human populations.
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Using underused resources is a really great idea, specially when it comes to water. But converting ocean water to fresh water is very expensive so it can't be done by many countries..
Good insights! The idea of tapping into additional underused resources can be a great way of reducing climate impact. You talk specifically about water in your post, but there is opportunity to reduce emissions by changing the resources we use as well!
Zineb Abbar, L'Ange Bleu School, Morocco
Oct 25, 2016