@1:32:27 "The problem you have to worry about with climate change is that there is a zipper effect, you get down the road to far and you can't recover. So, for anybody in the world who thinks that climate change is a hoax-like a couple of our people in Washington [DC] do-that is almost immoral." -Gen. Charles Wald - U.S. Air Force, Retired
WOW. Great panel. Neil is covering all of the major issues of our time with these wonderful Isaac Asimov Debates! It was a profound awakening as well, to the overall situation on the humanity, and really put it into the light, like what Neil said in Cosmos. On the last second of the last day of the cosmic year, humanity started using the scientific method, and went from Galileo gazing through a telescope, to putting humans on the moon. But how did we get this far without a basic water system figured out? Humanity didn't even get their water situation sorted out after all this time. All humans living on less than half a percent of all the drinkable water there is. It really is such a young species.
Wishing the great #AsimovDebates could be held ***TWICE A YEAR EVERY YEAR!*** TY to Janet Asimov and the others including NdGT, who make this great event possible! There are SO MANY more subjects that deserve this sort of discussion!
I'm quite certain that there are countless #IsaacAsimov admirers/fans/readers that STILL mourn his loss. We're so grateful for his works, all of his thoughts and his vision that he left us with and continues to inspire us with. ♡♡♡
i love how there is a hole panel of greats up there but can't work out mic's . Gold. it goes to show everyone has their place and use and the way they handle it shows that there is no problems only solution's. They didn't miss a beat. I love this attitude.
"For anybody in the world that thinks climate change is a hoax or something like a couple of our people in Washington do, it's almost immoral" -Charles Wald 1:32:33
because $650 - 700 Billion / year to maintain foreign military bases, to research deadlier weapons in order to stay dominant over Russians/Chinese, to procure wasteful F-22's , F-35's etc etc.... No wonder why only people working in Aerospace and Defense can make decent living.
Seems they do this ever episode they have. Some seem random and others planned. Whether they are covering their mistakes with planned or simply fucking up remains to be seen...
Having been influenced by growing up in an old town with no access to naturally available portable water, I'd recommend that buildings, especially large ones, be built with their own underground water run off storage facilities. Whether they'd use stored water, collected from either roof tops or leveled areas, for the immediate surroundings or surrendered to the larger community they might be part off could be determined by demand. Building gravity fed water storage areas into buildings is quite cheap if done as part of the construction process, at the very beginning and preferably in basements so as to occupy the least space possible
Since this is Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate about the water particularly, maybe it's useful to mention Asimov's SF novella "The martian way" (1952), where the plot was about an approach to extraterrestrial water supply by mining of ice asteroids orbiting Saturn. The very similar idea was talked about during the debate (arround 0:14:00).
I find it amazing that nobody talks about the real driver of this water crisis that goes beyond even climate change. There are too many people. If we had a significantly smaller world population, our activities would be causing much less harm to the environment and our quality of life would be better.
I am always shocked by the inability of even the smartest people in United States to discuss any issue outside of the boundaries of costs and the infamous "how much is that going to cost?" question. Apparently there is a cost attached to the survival of our species and if economists figure out that the cost is too much, we will just perish I suppose. Is it possible that in this world we live in, economic laws supersede the natural laws? Really? I guess what I'm asking is where is the point at which crisis is so profound that we forget about the costs and we simply get it done? Can the crisis be so serious that we, the people of this country, can order Exxon Mobile for example, to not extract oil from the ground anymore, or simply seize their operations for the good of all of us? I think a lot of people are counting on capitalism to fix these problems. The prevailing belief here is that once the problem becomes too serious, some individual/company somewhere will make a breakthrough that will save the planet by providing environment friendly clean product, therefore eliminating the old alternatives and all that at even lower costs for the consumers. Again economic laws superseding the natural laws. Well I hope you're right, because if you're not then it is game over...
Their jobs are grounded in the grim reality of cost. Scientists REALLY want to send astronauts to Mars. How do they get there? Money. If it costs too much, they can't go. It must be cost effective. Money is the language and medium through which we build and create This is our reality right now, perhaps not how it should be, perhaps not how it will be. I agree with you, though. If an asteroid were on a head-on collision with Earth and our entire species was immediately in danger of extinction, I don't think people would ask "how much is it going to cost to save our planet from catastrophic destruction". We must survive. But, you see, this is where other less perceived "immediate" threats don't get the urgency they need. A slow poisoning of the Earth is a lot harder to understand (and easy to ignore). And the _powers that be_ (and money) don't give a damn about "future" problems. Greed and willful ignorance are as natural to human nature as generosity and clear reasoning.
They're not unable to discuss it outside the context of capitalism, they're just all too aware that it's the biggest hurdle to these issues. No one up there is counting on capitalism, they just don't expect people to fully acknowledge the problem until it's profitable or unavoidable to do so. Drought is coming.
Dylan Radd That's exactly my point, some problems must be solved even if they have no way to generate profit. Otherwise goodbye human kind. If we are unable to cross that threshold then we don't deserve to consider ourselves an intelligent life forms...
Thank you. In all likelihood Mother Nature simply needs man to back off for awhile so she can right herself. This includes backing off of our fanatical rush to "fix" things which She can fix easily all herself. There is no money in backing off. But if we each choose to back off as individuals, meaning we each see the value in making simple, smart consumer choices, we could produce the same effect of starving the pariahs which are blocking natures ability to re-balance herself. It is embedded in the training of the world's PhD's to "fix" things. You could say scientists are conditioned to "fix". Which by definition is arrogant. In this case, arrogant towards nature. Unfortunately the planet cannot handle many more of our "solutions", which simply become the problems of tomorrow.
I agree with you but which system is superior? Do you have one in mind? You see I spent years noticing the flaws in the current system, and there are many flaws in it, but what is this better alternative you speak of? Does it have a name?
Please, make an Isaac Asimov memorial debate about conscious artificial intelligence. He wrote much about robots, so this topic is really relevant. I personally would like to suggest inviting the following panelists: Roger Penrose, Stewart Hameroff, Marwin Minsky, Raymond Kurzweil, Amit Goswami. Please, this topic is really worth a debate!
machopbad Same. Sometimes bringing non scientists into science discussions doesn't work that well, but he added an interesting perspective. Who ever chose the guest this year did a fine job with the entire panel.
Take A Moment My friend Here from the future. I live in Calgary Alberta Untruedaux Land. We are all on the human lawnmower vis. Ukraine. If you are reading this 42 times around, I did 64. Please Stay Safe and Stay Free Stay Free Universe xxxx
+QuantumBraced Even better, with current technology we could gain about 2 ZJ of power from geothermal energy. The energy consumption of the entire world at the moment is only 0.5 ZJ.
geothermal can be destroyed by unpredictable seismic activity, and there are very limited places on earth that are stable enough for it to be worth the risk of the initial investment. Tidal and wave required a lot of maintenance thanks to erosion. if you need to spend energy and resources to collect energy and resources then you need to make sure that you can store the power efficiently once it's collected. That's why batteries are more important than the method of collection. We could make power in tons of ways, like generators on door hinges in buildings, floor paneling or in every chair we sit on. If we could store it, we could easily generate our own energy for personal consumption.
We have been to 2 comets. We didn't find any water, mud or ice? Also no mention here about the solar wind and how water is created via the hydrogen in the solar wind combining with the oxygen in the atmosphere when it hits the ionosphere.
Personally disappointed about this particular Isaac Asimov mem. deb. . Definitly learnt alot about water in general ; but water as a molecule- wise, nothing was mentionned. There is so much more to know about water and the impact that Energy - vibrations, , thoughts & intentions etc has on it. Eg : Masaru Emoto
They talk about bringing water (and other resources) to earth while talking about things leaving earth. Is there going to be equilibrium so solar bodies don't change their orbits or rotation due to changing mass?
It's a bit odd that at around 1:14 she talks about what individuals can do to conserve water use when they had, as a panel, openly admitted that it is industry and agriculture which hog our most precious resource...
I am not sure what you're trying to say. All I mean to say is industry has more control over how the resource (water) is used than the individual does.
Flint Michigan is proof that municipal water isnt great everywhere in America, I'm not advocating for bottled water I'm saying we need to make sure municipal water sources are safe
+Tibor Roussou It bothers you to have to pay the costs of brining it to you. ? I want it I want it now and I don't want to pay for it .When you go to work tell them not to pay you.
i am very impressed about the 13 y o questioning..like mr tyson :D .. restores my faith in humanity ..a new generation growing up with the right knowledge to make it better
I'm a little skeptical that "100 feet" of subsidence was visible on a telephone pole, considering that they're only about 40 feet long, and buried to a depth of about 6 feet.
There is a well in the southern Nile that was used for taxation. So if the water level was high taxes went up and if low taxes went down. It's a fascinating, ingenious way of taxing farmers.
Unfortunately this debate ended up being too broad in its discussion of water. When I clicked on this video I was expecting a talk about either the presence of water in the solar system and the universe or a detailed talk about water on Earth. I expected there to be some overlap of water on Earth and in the universe, as there should be when talking about Earth, but the discussion became less focussed. I think there was some relevance to talking about conflict over water but perhaps not so much that it was necessary to have a retired general there. He may have been able to provide more detailed explanations of some of the things he was talking about if the discussion was slightly different. I don't think they should have talked retrieving water from comets and asteroids or the ARM. They were theorizing too much about exotic methods of brining more water to Earth. They did talk a little about NASA's Earth science missions like SMAP but not enough, and they also should have provided more specific examples of how they use that data. They also should have talked about NOAA's efforts more, and about desalinization and wastewater reuse.
Global warming is happening and in turn the sea levels are rising, so does it not follow that desalination is the way forward, providing balance to the water cycle, preventing flooding and other natural disasters. The brine waste could be reduced further in to salt to be used in deicing agents. They talk about economic applications; this would be ecomomic for our planet global warming process and the companies involved in desalination. It time to learn to work with the changes to our planet instead of trying to stop them or worse yet prevent them.
It was mentioned that climate change will over a period adversely effect our economy. Our current administration has greatly adversely effected our economy in only a few years. Also, it was mentioned that a coastal city was having sea water over their streets due to climate change, but they didn't mention that maybe the city was sinking.
Municipal water is just fine she says Sure, that is unless of course you live in Flynt, Michigan!! Or some other underprivileged or undermaintained community.
in the third world. hey, don't mind me, we got bazillions of dollars in settlements from Monsanto for our PCB poisoned waters and houses and lands here in Calhoun County, AL. but hey, it didn't get in our aquifers, just in the streams and river down stream of the plant.
So, all problems of mankind could in fact be reduced to only ONE of them ... ENERGY DENSITY. We need therefore to put special attention to creating new ways of gaining large amounts of energy in the most efficient ways. Yet, if our reality is a kind of virtual (digital) simulation - what is the energy in such reality?
yup, that was cool as ice. :> just got out of a big drought here in SouthEastern US. what was it, 3 years long? upwards of 5 years in some sections. we're still recovering though. but I've gotta say, three to five day long rain patterns in the Fall and Winter here in North Eastern Alabama... it sucks. seriously, my basement either floods or stays damp all Fall and all Winter when we get this much rain, and it sucks. I've got an Uncle, lives in Vegas since the 80's, moved to Henderson, NV 2-ish years ago... he's never, watered, a lawn, ever. ever. Vegas has this zenoscaping? no xeriscaping? yeah Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping or gardening that reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water from irrigation. basically. astroturf/artificial plants, some rocks and dirt and succulents. it's a lawn or whatnot that doesn't need watering by the homeowner. I pay maybe ... $40 a month for city water and sewage. and our aquifer is a freshwater spring that bubbles up so much to the surface that it makes a small river all year long, even in droughts, and is caught at the wellhead by the water guys and it's barely treated, just enough chlorine to keep it safe in the pipes. the rest of the small river is diverted into a decorative city lake pond water statue feature in the middle of a public sports parks and running/walking track around the lake and an open air city pool that's Olympic sized. I think. even I don't water my lawn and it stays green-ish all year long. even in the droughts . . . so. no. we've NO water shortages here. Atlanta, yeah, they got close to rationing/controlling city water supplies last Summer. Birmingham, AL got close to that too. weird thing is. we're almost exactly halfway in between B'ham and 'lanta on I-20.
technology to manifest water from the atmosphere is needed & the best water to drink is spring water that carry electrolyte minerals which carry electrons which on a sub-atomic level is what your body is looking for when humans drink anything. Demographics show population drops from 2020 peaking around 8 billion by 2100 there could be anything from 3-5 billion people on Earth.
Global warming or overpopulation and pollution and ecology modification, paving over the land, devouring resources. Water is a big part of the resources but only one of them. Makes me think of locusts devouring everything in sight. Sooner or later you reach the end and no matter what you do you have to face reality. Sustainable and desirable and limited development have to be key factors to incorporate. Population control, if it does not come naturally via a search for a better life will eventually come some other way.What did the panel discuss? Not population, as if it wasn’t much of an issue. Maybe that is the problem
We can only live days without water. Whomever had the idea for this topic probably understood the great conflict coming which the General briefly noted. The year 2030 he stated as the forecast for conflict. Makes sense that water would be the one thing either to limit population growth or naturally thin population.
Can I just mention how awesome and fantastic it is that more than half the panel is made of women! Sciences should not be exclusive to men and it fills me with joy to see a change.
1) OP expresses happiness to see that science has become less sexist. 2) Other guy has to come and helpfully explain the dangers of "political correctness." 3) Shub-Niggurath plz
I despise the ego of people who say things like "as a veteran". Veterans deserve no respect. They are idiots and fools that willingly go off to other peoples lands to kill innocents in the power games of the elites. As a veteran all you ever did was destroy peoples lives. Its no better than starting a statement "as a pedophile".
California and Las Vegas empty their water resources (and those of people downstream, when there was a downstream) for swimming pools, lawns, golf courses, water fountains...
### Exosphere observation alert ### : LightSail Sailed into Space aboard Atlas V Rocket @ 15:44 UTC 2015/05/20 The Planetary Society’s two LightSail spacecraft is now in space following a late morning launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 11:05 a.m. EDT (15:05 UTC). The Centaur upper stage and primary payload are in their preliminary orbit, with LightSail and its CubeSat companions bolted near the aft section in the secondary ULTRASat payload. LightSail spacecraft separation is expected to occur at 1:05 p.m. EDT. Posted By Jason Davis ~@ www.planetary.org/…/2…/20150520-lightsail-liftoff.htm +@ www.planetary.org/explore/projects/
These people are impressive. Yet there is no definitive moving forward. If an opinion is there without evidence therefore my comment is without evidence I say I don't know.
+Jerry Rhee you are surprised that a conversation amongst Americans on American media would be an American conversation?Now tell me what Secondness of water availability means . you lost me on that
They didn't even touch on the fracking water waste issue, Nestle's efforts to secure control of water in several states and the shameless bullying of citizens by corporations over water rights in Central America.
+Frank Erickson That is politics these are scientists .Corporations are bribing sorry donating to politicians at a rate that beats what the populace does ,guess who will get first dibs
Holding water in the land is the solution... and this means that we need to change a lot of things. So treated water shouldn't be pumped into the sea. We need to plant trees... we need to change the landscape so we have organic matter slowing the flow of water... we need to address how water is used in the homes... to have grey water systems which means we reuse water within the home. And within a city most of the water just flows into sewage then flows into the sea... a great loss of an important resource. So we need to change the water control systems within cities so water off roads doesn't flow into the storm water drains but can be routed into storage tanks... and what baffles me is cities that outlaw collecting rain water. There is so much that can be done and which we are not doing and you never even spoke about it.
the problem of water is fairly simple: we need more energy to desalinate water. This energy cannot come from petroleum but rather star power (NIF), solar power, wind power, geothermal power... If we can desalinate water for free without using oil, then we have plenty of water. Why make the issue more complex than it has to be. The earth may be about 70 percent ocean, so it is a no brainer that lots of salt water is available - we just need free energy from renewable sources to desalinate the water.
Z505 Software Read my solution, pump the seawater to desert areas and it will evaporate into fresh water. The pumps can be ocean wave operated. wilirving33@gmail.com
+bud irving Your solution does not take into account how much energy it takes to move water and when it evaporates it is carried by winds that we have no control of. It won't fall where you want it to ocean wave power is in it's infancy .and it will cost money which makes water expensive. We have had it cheap and easy so that when it cost the plebeians complain if this winter does not put a huge amount of water into the system that feeds not only California but four other inland states there is going to be a unpleasant time for all the USA .That is going to damage the economy as the food that is grown there has to be shipped in and cost a lot more .
***** It is true that the pumping in the beginning would be prohibitive for private enterprise. But the army corps of engineers or a separate government agency, would be able to handle it. The Surface Water Branch of The U.S. Geological Survey, of which I was an employee, could supervise the project. The entire project would cost less than one outer space launch. The U.S. moves water around now by pumping. Why not sea water? The rainfall could be predictable because the winds are created by barometric pressure. The barometric pressure is lowered or raised by humidity. The humidity created by the sea water ponds would create wind which would be predictable. Heavy moist air would move toward dry hot air. As the hot air rises, the heavy humid air moves in, creating rain in the deserts. This is not rocket science, winds are predictable. The problem as I see it is, that there is no profit that can be had by private enterprise and therefore no incentive. The dry land needs more freshwater on the surface and underground. If we are going to stop the global warming, we are going to have to put it there.
Very disappointed Neil. No real science on what water is and how it acts. Just a discussion on where water is and not what it is. Was hoping to hear about water memory, it’s fourth gel state and it’s exclusion zone.
I used to live in an abandoned corrugated iron chicken coop which had a sign, reminiscent of Frank Herbert's Dune, that said "Water is Gold!" It was quite basic, I slept on wooden planks
The problem is your weak vehicle your consciousness inhabits! Need new bodies and better scaffolding for our memories! Let go of the goo you live in and make a better one! Whether you want a cyborg or energy form this organic machine we inhabit now sucks, let's do better!
Renewable energy and Desalination..... if we do it right, we will have enough FREE RENEWABLE energy to desalinate and pump water wherever it is needed.
You would think that after 15 years the Hayden Planetarium could find an audio/video crew that knew what the fuck they are doing. This looks and sounds like a high school production. The mics don't work, in spite of a pre production mic check and the camera person can't seem to put the lens on the person who is speaking. This in New York City, the fucking media capital of the world. Surely they can find some professionals to record this.
1:43:29 "Ek-lee-ons" of society. Ugh. :P I will have to give the girl credit though because that could be a sign that on her own she is exploring farther than what is being made available in her current educational environment. Since I grew up religious, I had to do my own reading which went far afield of what I was being taught in the private schools I attended. Naturally this led me into content that included words which I had never heard before and, being "hooked on phonics" (look it up, Millennials. :P ), I would of course mispronounce them. So, you go, Ekleeon Girl! ;)
i have a theory that can change or explain common knowledge about "Earth". It is called "The Atomic Liquid theory". The name is not finalized. I am not hard to find.
sheepwshotguns slowing down the supply of oil without reducing the demand would cause an energy crisis that could end civilization... building more pipelines for water when the issue is that there isn't enough fresh water to put into existing pipelines doesn't even make sense
sheepwshotguns The Plan has been and continues to be to waste and pollute the 1or 2 percent of fresh water available to humans here on Earth. Wikipedia "water" : "Out of all the water on Earth, saline water in oceans, seas and saline groundwater make up about 97% of it. Only 2.5-2.75% is fresh water, including 1.75-2% frozen in glaciers, ice and snow. "
rd264 i wonder what percentage of drinkable water is now corporate owned as opposed to commons. and i wonder what the trend is over time. i hear a lot of companies are buying fresh water supplies off of many local governments across the country and in canada.
MonkeyKong "that could END civilization" .. a bit overdramatic there. Slowing down the oil supply would just speed up the switch over to renewable energy sources. It's not like we wouldn't have the technology. And it's not like it would END civilization if we had to use less oil. We could use 80% less and still be completely fine.
+Rj Sh It has in California it stopped in Mesopotamia The Sahara was a vast savannah .The Midwest grows food in dry land pumping water from a aquifer that has been drained . Most of the worlds fresh water is sitting on Antarctica frozen. We piss in fresh water and throw it away . Industry uses water and poisons it The Great Lakes are becoming a algae pool from agricultural run off. The patterns of rainfall are changing there is longer periods of no rain and when it does it comes in quantities that overflow collection systems and gets contaminated by water that was shat in . It is more complicated than your simple question suggests.
+Rj Sh No it not going to stop raining and we are not going to run out of water. The fresh water is simply not raining in the best places for humans to make use of it. So more deserts are forming. It can be changed by pumping sea water to desert areas where it will cause rain which will be fresh water and the the deserts will become alive with green growth again. This can be done anywhere on earth where there are deserts. Problem solved no more warming of the earth and no more fresh water problem.
asoundlike, You must not have read my full solution for the fresh water problems. To be brief, we decide which dessert we would like to have rain, then we pump seawater to the dry lakes in the area, the water will evaporate and cause rain.The prevailing winds will cause the predictability of where it will rain. I know this sounds unworkable but If you could have read my entire plan I think you might change your mind. The evaporation does desalinate the sea water.
The climate has changed forever... We should ofc focus to hold as long as possible as a speccies, including the envioment we can survive with. However, our main energy focus should be on creating space, where we can control the envioment.. Dont turn this into a religion, where we spent time and energi in something that wouldnt be a permanent solution for our futures.
I really appreciate Neil's strict attention to language in order to keep pre-suppositions out of the descriptive language of science.
Mr. Asimov would be proud. Keep up these fine additions to the world wide web.
@1:32:27
"The problem you have to worry about with climate change is that there is a zipper effect, you get down the road to far and you can't recover. So, for anybody in the world who thinks that climate change is a hoax-like a couple of our people in Washington [DC] do-that is almost immoral."
-Gen. Charles Wald - U.S. Air Force, Retired
WOW. Great panel. Neil is covering all of the major issues of our time with these wonderful Isaac Asimov Debates! It was a profound awakening as well, to the overall situation on the humanity, and really put it into the light, like what Neil said in Cosmos. On the last second of the last day of the cosmic year, humanity started using the scientific method, and went from Galileo gazing through a telescope, to putting humans on the moon.
But how did we get this far without a basic water system figured out? Humanity didn't even get their water situation sorted out after all this time. All humans living on less than half a percent of all the drinkable water there is. It really is such a young species.
Wishing the great #AsimovDebates could be held
***TWICE A YEAR EVERY YEAR!***
TY to Janet Asimov and the others including NdGT, who make this great event possible! There are SO MANY more subjects that deserve this sort of discussion!
I'm quite certain that there are countless #IsaacAsimov admirers/fans/readers that STILL mourn his loss. We're so grateful for his works, all of his thoughts and his vision that he left us with and continues to inspire us with. ♡♡♡
i love how there is a hole panel of greats up there but can't work out mic's . Gold. it goes to show everyone has their place and use and the way they handle it shows that there is no problems only solution's. They didn't miss a beat. I love this attitude.
"For anybody in the world that thinks climate change is a hoax or something like a couple of our people in Washington do, it's almost immoral" -Charles Wald 1:32:33
This was great listening to. Fantastic to see well informed women who are in charge in their field discuss this subject
They can put a man on the moon, but can't even get reliable microphones in any of these panel discussions.
Very true, you nail it. And so are many things where money is spent on, but no lives are saved.
because $650 - 700 Billion / year to maintain foreign military bases, to research deadlier weapons in order to stay dominant over Russians/Chinese, to procure wasteful F-22's , F-35's etc etc....
No wonder why only people working in Aerospace and Defense can make decent living.
Seems they do this ever episode they have. Some seem random and others planned. Whether they are covering their mistakes with planned or simply fucking up remains to be seen...
Having been influenced by growing up in an old town with no access to naturally available portable water, I'd recommend that buildings, especially large ones, be built with their own underground water run off storage facilities. Whether they'd use stored water, collected from either roof tops or leveled areas, for the immediate surroundings or surrendered to the larger community they might be part off could be determined by demand. Building gravity fed water storage areas into buildings is quite cheap if done as part of the construction process, at the very beginning and preferably in basements so as to occupy the least space possible
was great to experience in person for the first time!
wish this could be 2x a yr too!
Since this is Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate about the water particularly, maybe it's useful to mention Asimov's SF novella "The martian way" (1952), where the plot was about an approach to extraterrestrial water supply by mining of ice asteroids orbiting Saturn. The very similar idea was talked about during the debate (arround 0:14:00).
+VibratorDefibrilator If you can hang on for about two hundred years we will get that to you . It works better as fiction
My biggest take away from this panel discussion is that Neil Degrasse Tyson speaking off the cuff IS HILARIOUS.
I find it amazing that nobody talks about the real driver of this water crisis that goes beyond even climate change. There are too many people. If we had a significantly smaller world population, our activities would be causing much less harm to the environment and our quality of life would be better.
I am always shocked by the inability of even the smartest people in United States to discuss any issue outside of the boundaries of costs and the infamous "how much is that going to cost?" question. Apparently there is a cost attached to the survival of our species and if economists figure out that the cost is too much, we will just perish I suppose. Is it possible that in this world we live in, economic laws supersede the natural laws? Really?
I guess what I'm asking is where is the point at which crisis is so profound that we forget about the costs and we simply get it done? Can the crisis be so serious that we, the people of this country, can order Exxon Mobile for example, to not extract oil from the ground anymore, or simply seize their operations for the good of all of us?
I think a lot of people are counting on capitalism to fix these problems. The prevailing belief here is that once the problem becomes too serious, some individual/company somewhere will make a breakthrough that will save the planet by providing environment friendly clean product, therefore eliminating the old alternatives and all that at even lower costs for the consumers. Again economic laws superseding the natural laws.
Well I hope you're right, because if you're not then it is game over...
Their jobs are grounded in the grim reality of cost. Scientists REALLY want to send astronauts to Mars. How do they get there? Money. If it costs too much, they can't go. It must be cost effective. Money is the language and medium through which we build and create This is our reality right now, perhaps not how it should be, perhaps not how it will be. I agree with you, though. If an asteroid were on a head-on collision with Earth and our entire species was immediately in danger of extinction, I don't think people would ask "how much is it going to cost to save our planet from catastrophic destruction". We must survive. But, you see, this is where other less perceived "immediate" threats don't get the urgency they need. A slow poisoning of the Earth is a lot harder to understand (and easy to ignore). And the _powers that be_ (and money) don't give a damn about "future" problems. Greed and willful ignorance are as natural to human nature as generosity and clear reasoning.
They're not unable to discuss it outside the context of capitalism, they're just all too aware that it's the biggest hurdle to these issues. No one up there is counting on capitalism, they just don't expect people to fully acknowledge the problem until it's profitable or unavoidable to do so.
Drought is coming.
Dylan Radd That's exactly my point, some problems must be solved even if they have no way to generate profit. Otherwise goodbye human kind. If we are unable to cross that threshold then we don't deserve to consider ourselves an intelligent life forms...
Thank you. In all likelihood Mother Nature simply needs man to back off for awhile so she can right herself. This includes backing off of our fanatical rush to "fix" things which She can fix easily all herself. There is no money in backing off. But if we each choose to back off as individuals, meaning we each see the value in making simple, smart consumer choices, we could produce the same effect of starving the pariahs which are blocking natures ability to re-balance herself.
It is embedded in the training of the world's PhD's to "fix" things. You could say scientists are conditioned to "fix". Which by definition is arrogant. In this case, arrogant towards nature. Unfortunately the planet cannot handle many more of our "solutions", which simply become the problems of tomorrow.
I agree with you but which system is superior? Do you have one in mind? You see I spent years noticing the flaws in the current system, and there are many flaws in it, but what is this better alternative you speak of? Does it have a name?
Please, make an Isaac Asimov memorial debate about conscious artificial intelligence. He wrote much about robots, so this topic is really relevant.
I personally would like to suggest inviting the following panelists: Roger Penrose, Stewart Hameroff, Marwin Minsky, Raymond Kurzweil, Amit Goswami.
Please, this topic is really worth a debate!
It was a fascinating talk.
I'll be honest; I wasn't sure how well the Navy General would hold up in this panel but he was definitely a good choice.
machopbad Same. Sometimes bringing non scientists into science discussions doesn't work that well, but he added an interesting perspective. Who ever chose the guest this year did a fine job with the entire panel.
29:48 the way Neil looked at the camera made me laugh
Love these panel discussions!
This is awesome! I'm watching all of them.
The numerous Isaac Asimov debates are a must-see collection of debates, discussions, and playful pioneering minds.
~Now you are organising my night. Right after Ira and the math stuff!
Phenomenal panel. Important topic.
Take A Moment
My friend
Here from the future.
I live in Calgary Alberta Untruedaux Land.
We are all on the human lawnmower vis. Ukraine.
If you are reading this 42 times around, I did 64.
Please
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Stay Free Universe
xxxx
Great to see women coming forward.
The problem is not a shortage of water, the problem is energy. The sun puts out more energy than we will ever need. Problem solved.
+QuantumBraced Even better, with current technology we could gain about 2 ZJ of power from geothermal energy. The energy consumption of the entire world at the moment is only 0.5 ZJ.
I think good batteries is the bigger problem, inconsistent power generation from nature other than hydro
Kris Driver geothermal, wave and tidal power are three incredibly consistent energy sources actually.
geothermal can be destroyed by unpredictable seismic activity, and there are very limited places on earth that are stable enough for it to be worth the risk of the initial investment. Tidal and wave required a lot of maintenance thanks to erosion. if you need to spend energy and resources to collect energy and resources then you need to make sure that you can store the power efficiently once it's collected. That's why batteries are more important than the method of collection. We could make power in tons of ways, like generators on door hinges in buildings, floor paneling or in every chair we sit on. If we could store it, we could easily generate our own energy for personal consumption.
+QuantumBraced Fusion. We can make our own sun. :)
We have been to 2 comets. We didn't find any water, mud or ice? Also no mention here about the solar wind and how water is created via the hydrogen in the solar wind combining with the oxygen in the atmosphere when it hits the ionosphere.
"Water water everywhere an not a drop to drink, water water everywhere and all the boards did shrink, one of my favourites
Take A Moment
My friend
Nice one
Personally disappointed about this particular Isaac Asimov mem. deb. .
Definitly learnt alot about water in general ; but water as a molecule- wise, nothing was mentionned. There is so much more to know about water and the impact that Energy - vibrations, , thoughts & intentions etc has on it. Eg : Masaru Emoto
+Cyril T. Bes Agreed. I wanted to know more about water itself than how we planned to get more water.
Cyril T. B
Awesome discussion & interesting panelists
They talk about bringing water (and other resources) to earth while talking about things leaving earth. Is there going to be equilibrium so solar bodies don't change their orbits or rotation due to changing mass?
It's a bit odd that at around 1:14 she talks about what individuals can do to conserve water use when they had, as a panel, openly admitted that it is industry and agriculture which hog our most precious resource...
+Ian Fleischhacker Well if you didn't eat or use what that industry produces you could look as if they are hogging it but they are hogging it for you
I am not sure what you're trying to say. All I mean to say is industry has more control over how the resource (water) is used than the individual does.
Re: 1:04:00 that's spelled tardigrades (if you wanted to Google it).
Best of the Asimov debates on TH-cam, imo!
Why a government panel?
Flint Michigan is proof that municipal water isnt great everywhere in America, I'm not advocating for bottled water I'm saying we need to make sure municipal water sources are safe
Is overall city pluvial run off normally engineered to be directed to feed existing aquifers or surface fresh water areas? Negligent if not!
Another gem! Thanks for the great content.
What bothers me is "it is free to you right now" and "there is money to be made".
+Tibor Roussou It bothers you to have to pay the costs of brining it to you. ?
I want it I want it now and I don't want to pay for it .When you go to work tell them not to pay you.
Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one :)
i am very impressed about the 13 y o questioning..like mr tyson :D .. restores my faith in humanity ..a new generation growing up with the right knowledge to make it better
Particularly good after we got Mr. Trump as POTUS.
I hope the new generations are way smarter than we...
Yeah you're right. A democracy is only as good as the education of the people who get to vote
*constitutional republic
I can’t stop laughing 😂😂😂 while watching this. So awesome thak you very much 👍
These women are pretty amazing
These people*
The sinking pole, why was it caused? Only part of the debate I found challenging. Not to mention the lack of commentary over water rights...
I'm a little skeptical that "100 feet" of subsidence was visible on a telephone pole, considering that they're only about 40 feet long, and buried to a depth of about 6 feet.
the audio on this one is mint
Earthship technology would help make a dent in this problem
Nicholas Powers Earthship technology would be amazing for architecture firms to integrate in building new housing, facilities, and skyscrapers.
There is a well in the southern Nile that was used for taxation. So if the water level was high taxes went up and if low taxes went down. It's a fascinating, ingenious way of taxing farmers.
Unfortunately this debate ended up being too broad in its discussion of water. When I clicked on this video I was expecting a talk about either the presence of water in the solar system and the universe or a detailed talk about water on Earth. I expected there to be some overlap of water on Earth and in the universe, as there should be when talking about Earth, but the discussion became less focussed. I think there was some relevance to talking about conflict over water but perhaps not so much that it was necessary to have a retired general there. He may have been able to provide more detailed explanations of some of the things he was talking about if the discussion was slightly different. I don't think they should have talked retrieving water from comets and asteroids or the ARM. They were theorizing too much about exotic methods of brining more water to Earth. They did talk a little about NASA's Earth science missions like SMAP but not enough, and they also should have provided more specific examples of how they use that data. They also should have talked about NOAA's efforts more, and about desalinization and wastewater reuse.
39:39 why not just heat the material till the water evaporates out?
(caution, may cause water explosion)
Global warming is happening and in turn the sea levels are rising, so does it not follow that desalination is the way forward, providing balance to the water cycle, preventing flooding and other natural disasters. The brine waste could be reduced further in to salt to be used in deicing agents. They talk about economic applications; this would be ecomomic for our planet global warming process and the companies involved in desalination. It time to learn to work with the changes to our planet instead of trying to stop them or worse yet prevent them.
It was mentioned that climate change will over a period adversely effect our economy. Our current administration has greatly adversely effected our economy in only a few years. Also, it was mentioned that a coastal city was having sea water over their streets due to climate change, but they didn't mention that maybe the city was sinking.
Municipal water is just fine she says
Sure, that is unless of course you live in Flynt, Michigan!!
Or some other underprivileged or undermaintained community.
in the third world. hey, don't mind me, we got bazillions of dollars in settlements from Monsanto for our PCB poisoned waters and houses and lands here in Calhoun County, AL. but hey, it didn't get in our aquifers, just in the streams and river down stream of the plant.
So, all problems of mankind could in fact be reduced to only ONE of them ... ENERGY DENSITY.
We need therefore to put special attention to creating new ways of gaining large amounts of energy in the most efficient ways.
Yet, if our reality is a kind of virtual (digital) simulation - what is the energy in such reality?
yup, that was cool as ice. :> just got out of a big drought here in SouthEastern US. what was it, 3 years long? upwards of 5 years in some sections. we're still recovering though. but I've gotta say, three to five day long rain patterns in the Fall and Winter here in North Eastern Alabama... it sucks. seriously, my basement either floods or stays damp all Fall and all Winter when we get this much rain, and it sucks. I've got an Uncle, lives in Vegas since the 80's, moved to Henderson, NV 2-ish years ago... he's never, watered, a lawn, ever. ever. Vegas has this zenoscaping? no xeriscaping? yeah Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping or gardening that reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water from irrigation. basically. astroturf/artificial plants, some rocks and dirt and succulents. it's a lawn or whatnot that doesn't need watering by the homeowner. I pay maybe ... $40 a month for city water and sewage. and our aquifer is a freshwater spring that bubbles up so much to the surface that it makes a small river all year long, even in droughts, and is caught at the wellhead by the water guys and it's barely treated, just enough chlorine to keep it safe in the pipes. the rest of the small river is diverted into a decorative city lake pond water statue feature in the middle of a public sports parks and running/walking track around the lake and an open air city pool that's Olympic sized. I think. even I don't water my lawn and it stays green-ish all year long. even in the droughts . . . so. no. we've NO water shortages here. Atlanta, yeah, they got close to rationing/controlling city water supplies last Summer. Birmingham, AL got close to that too. weird thing is. we're almost exactly halfway in between B'ham and 'lanta on I-20.
technology to manifest water from the atmosphere is needed & the best water to drink is spring water that carry electrolyte minerals which carry electrons which on a sub-atomic level is what your body is looking for when humans drink anything. Demographics show population drops from 2020 peaking around 8 billion by 2100 there could be anything from 3-5 billion people on Earth.
thank you for this debate
this is more like star talk then a debate :D
Than**
@@jimmyshrimbe9361 thank you for fixing my grammar 6 years later :D
Any time, dude!! If you want I can look through the channels you're subscribed to and find some more. Just let me know!
@@jimmyshrimbe9361 Dude that would be fantastical! Theres a lot of cat videos :D
Amazon will be selling water
Who would have thought the army general would be the panel member with the best sense of humor?
Again, has anyone ever heard of population control which can automatically solve many of the problems. What’s wrong with licensing having a baby.
Global warming or overpopulation and pollution and ecology modification, paving over the land, devouring resources. Water is a big part of the resources but only one of them. Makes me think of locusts devouring everything in sight. Sooner or later you reach the end and no matter what you do you have to face reality. Sustainable and desirable and limited development have to be key factors to incorporate. Population control, if it does not come naturally via a search for a better life will eventually come some other way.What did the panel discuss? Not population, as if it wasn’t much of an issue. Maybe that is the problem
We can only live days without water. Whomever had the idea for this topic probably understood the great conflict coming which the General briefly noted. The year 2030 he stated as the forecast for conflict. Makes sense that water would be the one thing either to limit population growth or naturally thin population.
the silence after the kiwi question was awesome...one love for Mr. Tayson
Can I just mention how awesome and fantastic it is that more than half the panel is made of women! Sciences should not be exclusive to men and it fills me with joy to see a change.
***** Oh please.
edisonmonstera "Oh please" what? He's right.
1) OP expresses happiness to see that science has become less sexist.
2) Other guy has to come and helpfully explain the dangers of "political correctness."
3) Shub-Niggurath plz
edisonmonstera Uhm... They're both right then
Yes.
Water prices will rise. Learn to conserve water. Nation wise a country must lower it's water consumption.
As a Veteran, I love the fact that the General is using words that Dr. Tyson hasn't heard before...hehe
I despise the ego of people who say things like "as a veteran". Veterans deserve no respect. They are idiots and fools that willingly go off to other peoples lands to kill innocents in the power games of the elites. As a veteran all you ever did was destroy peoples lives. Its no better than starting a statement "as a pedophile".
@@CandideSchmyles Yeah, by all means, have nobody protect your country. See how well that works out for you. Fucking moron.
California and Las Vegas empty their water resources (and those of people downstream, when there was a downstream) for swimming pools, lawns, golf courses, water fountains...
Epic every year 🙏
I dont like how Neil keep interrupting people to get technical on terms.
***** lol get used to it if you're planning to watch anything that he's hosting then. xD
***** I agree, I like Neil but it can get a little annoying.
***** I'm glad he did. Idk about you, but I'm not familiar with all the terminology the panel used. Neil helped out a ton in that regard
That's one of Dr Tyson's best qualities
I know but do you know exactly what it does for life? They don’t really say fundamentally.
### Exosphere observation alert ### : LightSail Sailed into Space aboard Atlas V Rocket @ 15:44 UTC 2015/05/20
The Planetary Society’s two LightSail spacecraft is now in space following a late morning launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 11:05 a.m. EDT (15:05 UTC). The Centaur upper stage and primary payload are in their preliminary orbit, with LightSail and its CubeSat companions bolted near the aft section in the secondary ULTRASat payload. LightSail spacecraft separation is expected to occur at 1:05 p.m. EDT. Posted By Jason Davis
~@ www.planetary.org/…/2…/20150520-lightsail-liftoff.htm
+@ www.planetary.org/explore/projects/
The irony here is that a person can actually get arrested for collecting rainwater in several states in the US. Yea America, you lead the way :-D
These people are impressive. Yet there is no definitive moving forward. If an opinion is there without evidence therefore my comment is without evidence I say I don't know.
A distinctly American conversation on dealing with Secondness of water availability and utilization.
+Jerry Rhee you are surprised that a conversation amongst Americans on American media would be an American conversation?Now tell me what Secondness of water availability means . you lost me on that
They didn't even touch on the fracking water waste issue, Nestle's efforts to secure control of water in several states and the shameless bullying of citizens by corporations over water rights in Central America.
+Frank Erickson That is politics these are scientists .Corporations are bribing sorry donating to politicians at a rate that beats what the populace does ,guess who will get first dibs
Holding water in the land is the solution... and this means that we need to change a lot of things. So treated water shouldn't be pumped into the sea. We need to plant trees... we need to change the landscape so we have organic matter slowing the flow of water... we need to address how water is used in the homes... to have grey water systems which means we reuse water within the home.
And within a city most of the water just flows into sewage then flows into the sea... a great loss of an important resource. So we need to change the water control systems within cities so water off roads doesn't flow into the storm water drains but can be routed into storage tanks... and what baffles me is cities that outlaw collecting rain water.
There is so much that can be done and which we are not doing and you never even spoke about it.
the problem of water is fairly simple: we need more energy to desalinate water. This energy cannot come from petroleum but rather star power (NIF), solar power, wind power, geothermal power... If we can desalinate water for free without using oil, then we have plenty of water. Why make the issue more complex than it has to be. The earth may be about 70 percent ocean, so it is a no brainer that lots of salt water is available - we just need free energy from renewable sources to desalinate the water.
Z505 Software Read my solution, pump the seawater to desert areas and it will evaporate into fresh water. The pumps can be ocean wave operated. wilirving33@gmail.com
+bud irving Your solution does not take into account how much energy it takes to move water and when it evaporates it is carried by winds that we have no control of. It won't fall where you want it to ocean wave power is in it's infancy .and it will cost money which makes water expensive.
We have had it cheap and easy so that when it cost the plebeians complain
if this winter does not put a huge amount of water into the system that feeds not only California but four other inland states there is going to be a
unpleasant time for all the USA .That is going to damage the economy as
the food that is grown there has to be shipped in and cost a lot more .
***** It is true that the pumping in the beginning would be prohibitive for private enterprise. But the army corps of engineers or a separate government agency, would be able to handle it. The Surface Water Branch of The U.S. Geological Survey, of which I was an employee, could supervise the project. The entire project would cost less than one outer space launch. The U.S. moves water around now by pumping. Why not sea water? The rainfall could be predictable because the winds are created by barometric pressure. The barometric pressure is lowered or raised by humidity. The humidity created by the sea water ponds would create wind which would be predictable. Heavy moist air would move toward dry hot air. As the hot air rises, the heavy humid air moves in, creating rain in the deserts. This is not rocket science, winds are predictable. The problem as I see it is, that there is no profit that can be had by private enterprise and therefore no incentive. The dry land needs more freshwater on the surface and underground. If we are going to stop the global warming, we are going to have to put it there.
18:03 "green women" was that a star trek reference?
Very disappointed Neil. No real science on what water is and how it acts. Just a discussion on where water is and not what it is. Was hoping to hear about water memory, it’s fourth gel state and it’s exclusion zone.
Tyson occupies a lot of "space" - More an interview than a discussion!
Poor Wald.. can even hear the lack of confidence in what he's trying to say in the voice pattern, way out of his depth.
Take A Moment Professor
NOAH: So cool
Stay Safe
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Stay Free
Let's spread the word to the universal world
These are really uncomfortable chairs. Very high. What happened to the previous chairs? You are on stage, you don't need such elevated chairs.
I used to live in an abandoned corrugated iron chicken coop which had a sign, reminiscent of Frank Herbert's Dune, that said "Water is Gold!" It was quite basic, I slept on wooden planks
"Anywhere in the united states the waters fine" except maybe in Flint Michigan
Please stand by. Like we're not.
The problem is your weak vehicle your consciousness inhabits! Need new bodies and better scaffolding for our memories! Let go of the goo you live in and make a better one! Whether you want a cyborg or energy form this organic machine we inhabit now sucks, let's do better!
can we please have a stephen hawking semi-annual memorial debates!!! pretty please!!!
Renewable energy and Desalination..... if we do it right, we will have enough FREE RENEWABLE energy to desalinate and pump water wherever it is needed.
Wait they pay 1 penny a gallon?
Great to see a lot of women on this panel. Wow Neil, quit interrupting the panel, it's so annoying
Water will be the Twenty first Century Gold. Money will be valued in a “water standard.”
Yet another constant - there will always be controversy in science ... I like it.
You would think that after 15 years the Hayden Planetarium could find an audio/video crew that knew what the fuck they are doing.
This looks and sounds like a high school production.
The mics don't work, in spite of a pre production mic check and the camera person can't seem to put the lens on the person who is speaking.
This in New York City, the fucking media capital of the world.
Surely they can find some professionals to record this.
1:43:29 "Ek-lee-ons" of society. Ugh. :P I will have to give the girl credit though because that could be a sign that on her own she is exploring farther than what is being made available in her current educational environment. Since I grew up religious, I had to do my own reading which went far afield of what I was being taught in the private schools I attended. Naturally this led me into content that included words which I had never heard before and, being "hooked on phonics" (look it up, Millennials. :P ), I would of course mispronounce them. So, you go, Ekleeon Girl! ;)
CybershamanX Hahaha that's me I do not know how to pronounce words.
Really Neil, don't know what "littoral" is ?
i have a theory that can change or explain common knowledge about "Earth". It is called "The Atomic Liquid theory". The name is not finalized.
I am not hard to find.
fewer oil pipelines, and more fresh water pipelines please
sheepwshotguns slowing down the supply of oil without reducing the demand would cause an energy crisis that could end civilization... building more pipelines for water when the issue is that there isn't enough fresh water to put into existing pipelines doesn't even make sense
sheepwshotguns The Plan has been and continues to be to waste and pollute the 1or 2 percent of fresh water available to humans here on Earth. Wikipedia "water" : "Out of all the water on Earth, saline water in oceans, seas and saline groundwater make up about 97% of it. Only 2.5-2.75% is fresh water, including 1.75-2% frozen in glaciers, ice and snow. "
rd264
i wonder what percentage of drinkable water is now corporate owned as opposed to commons. and i wonder what the trend is over time. i hear a lot of companies are buying fresh water supplies off of many local governments across the country and in canada.
MonkeyKong "that could END civilization" ..
a bit overdramatic there. Slowing down the oil supply would just speed up the switch over to renewable energy sources. It's not like we wouldn't have the technology. And it's not like it would END civilization if we had to use less oil. We could use 80% less and still be completely fine.
How are we going to 'run out' of water? Is it going to stop raining?
+Rj Sh It has in California it stopped in Mesopotamia The Sahara was a vast savannah .The Midwest grows food in dry land pumping water from a aquifer that has been drained . Most of the worlds fresh water is sitting on Antarctica frozen.
We piss in fresh water and throw it away . Industry uses water and poisons it
The Great Lakes are becoming a algae pool from agricultural run off. The patterns of rainfall are changing there is longer periods of no rain and when it does it comes in quantities that overflow collection systems and gets contaminated by water that was shat in . It is more complicated than your simple question suggests.
+Rj Sh No it not going to stop raining and we are not going to run out of water. The fresh water is simply not raining in the best places for humans to make use of it. So more deserts are forming. It can be changed by pumping sea water to desert areas where it will cause rain which will be fresh water and the the deserts will become alive with green growth again. This can be done anywhere on earth where there are deserts. Problem solved no more warming of the earth and no more fresh water problem.
asoundlike, You must not have read my full solution for the fresh water problems. To be brief, we decide which dessert we would like to have rain, then we pump seawater to the dry lakes in the area, the water will evaporate and cause rain.The prevailing winds will cause the predictability of where it will rain. I know this sounds unworkable but If you could have read my entire plan I think you might change your mind. The evaporation does desalinate the sea water.
Its not a space station its upper atmosphere station
The climate has changed forever... We should ofc focus to hold as long as possible as a speccies, including the envioment we can survive with. However, our main energy focus should be on creating space, where we can control the envioment.. Dont turn this into a religion, where we spent time and energi in something that wouldnt be a permanent solution for our futures.
These would be more enjoyable without NDT. He always sounds like he's talking to third-graders.