Desalinization plants remove the salt from sea water and make it usable for drinking and irrigation. Review the following statements and select the one that best describes how this technology has had a positive impact on the environment.

Question

anonymous · Answer

It has a positive impact in the sense that places that use desalination need not pipe fresh water in from some distant place, or capture much of local rainfall, which can distort the ecology of the place deprived of its natural fresh water, and impose environmental costs associated with canals, pumps, et cetera.

It has a negative impact in that it is very energy intensive, so you have costs associated with power generation, e.g. burning fossil fuels.   Also, it enables development in what are normally arid ecologies, which tend to be more vulnerable to the damages associated with development.