© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

How ocean water vapor may be an answer to a climate change issue

DWANE BROWN, HOST:

Of all the water on Earth, only about 2 1/2 percent is fresh water, and it's also vanishing fast due to climate change.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

But researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say climate change is also creating fresh water in the form of ocean vapor.

PRAVEEN KUMAR: And if we could tap into that resource, we could supply fresh water without the need to desalinate.

BROWN: Praveen Kumar is a professor who specializes in climate-driven changes in the water cycle. Kumar says existing methods to meet freshwater demands, like seeding clouds to make rain or removing salt from seawater, are inadequate and unsustainable.

FADEL: So as global temperatures keep rising, his research team set out to find a long-term solution.

KUMAR: Warmer air holds more moisture. We're also looking at warming of the ocean's surfaces. And as a result, evaporation will increase. So essentially, more evaporation and more moisture in the air and, therefore, more water.

BROWN: Now, the study focused on 14 water-stressed cities around the world. The objective - to see whether it would be feasible to capture ocean vapor and turn it into fresh water.

KUMAR: What we envision for this work is a capture surface. So if you think about putting something, say, in the ocean west of Los Angeles, with about 9 to 10 such structures meeting the entire drinking needs of the Los Angeles population.

FADEL: The researchers say what they need next is some kind of apparatus to make this happen.

KUMAR: It is now feasible to approach it from an infrastructure and a large-scale investment perspective and solve the problem.

BROWN: Kumar says capturing moisture from over the oceans could provide a sustainable fresh water supply and solve one of the planet's great challenges. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Enjoying stories like this?

Donate to help keep public radio strong across Wyoming.