With the rapid growth of the global population, increasingly scarce freshwater resources. It was predicted that World War III will be competing for freshwater resources due to the sky. But the latest study found that in the past has been a neglect of our rich resources - fresh water under the sea.
Researchers have recently announced that they have proved the size of freshwater resources under the sea in the vicinity of South Africa, China, North America and Australia coast. Previously, scientists have been aware of the existence of these storage places, but did not know exactly where the number of hidden freshwater resources. According to the researchers it is currently estimated that the total amount of water is about 120,000 cubic miles. Each cubic mile is equivalent to 1.1 trillion gallons of water equivalent to the current total US nine days across the country. Principal Investigator of the study group is currently in the AFP (Agence France Presse) expressed their views:
"These reserves of freshwater resources is the total amount of groundwater resources since the last century global get a hundred times."
Forgotten freshwater resources
According to the "original story" website (The Raw Story) reports, these freshwater reservoir formed in hundreds of thousands of years ago, the last ice age (Last Glacial Maximum). When sea level was much lower than it is now, currently located under the sea area located above the sea at the time, these regions where rainfall will be able to absorb rainwater and stored. 20,000 years ago, it began to melt the polar ice caps, which disappeared in the area under water. However, due to the clay and other sediments barrier protection aquifers preserved intact.
Compared to water, the water is not so salty, desalination process will be easier and cheaper. According to the researchers introduced these freshwater resources for drinking a particular region of the world for decades.
Drinking water has become an obstacle
However, after all, not underground pit filled with mineral water, with a certain salinity, if not filter can not be directly consumed. In addition, the bigger problem is emerging.
First, these freshwater resources are difficult to obtain. According to the "Huffington Post" (Huffington Post) it reports:
The presence of water beneath the seabed, drill work time consuming. To get water, engineers are only two ways, either in the construction of offshore platforms to the sea bed drilling or drilling in the aquifer near the mainland or an island.
Second, these freshwater resources are non-renewable resources. We now groundwater resources can be supplemented by rainfall, but an article published in "Nature" (Nature) magazine article pointed out that these newly discovered water is completely independent of the water cycle. Unless until the next ice age sea level dropped enough to expose it to the surface, or they can not get any water added. Therefore, they cherish it.
(Translation: Wei Reviewer: Lin Ran)
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