GEO 702 Lecture 19: Desire for Water and Consequences
30 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
If the trend of development and use continues. Oceans will rise and the land will dry. 100 years: the equivalent of the whole hydrological cycle will disappear. On the planet 1. 5 billion people depend on groundwater for drinking water. Usa 50% of pop dependent on groundwater. Pro(cid:271)le(cid:373) of the (cid:862)(cid:272)o(cid:373)(cid:373)o(cid:374)s(cid:863) common property resource, water is underground attitude: the more you can take out, the more money you can make. Oil production water is pumped into oil reserves to increase pressure therefore production. Larger supply of oil than saudi arabia. Separation process oil from sand requires very large amounts of water. New process will take 9 barrels of water to produce 1 barrel of oil. Natural gas is trapped in coal beds and held there by water pressure. The water must be drawn off and dumped (highly saline) Montana 40 000 methane wells planned in next decade.
