ocean 112.

Application Discussion Board

This is your third discussion board activity that is not part of the module points. As stated in the syllabus, you will have various discussion board activities that will be based on current events, analysis of scientific articles, podcast reflections and more in order to apply what you are learning in this class to your daily life. This discussion board is worth a total of 15 points and will go towards the application discussion board activities points category. 

What will you do:

In the last module, we explored ocean salinity. Throughout the world, access to fresh, drinkable water can be rare and hard to find. This is a major issue for the people of these regions and a battle they constantly face. They are often located near coastlines where seawater is plentiful. However, due to seawater’s incredibly high salinity, it is not drinkable and will lead to severe dehydration (see the table in your textbook comparing seawater to pure water). One proposed method for combating this issue is to create desalination plants.

Read the following article below explaining what desalination means: https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/towards-sustainable-desalination

You can also refer to “Diving Deeper 5.1” on page 152-153 of your textbooks for a QUESTION on desalination and the different methods used to remove the salinity from seawater in order to make it drinkable.

1. Now, do your research and look up some articles that discuss whether or not desalination plants are a good idea. What solutions do they offer? Are they sustainable? Do they solve the main issue of water shortages? Do they create any new problems, or do the positives outweigh the negatives? You will address this point in your personal replies.

(Links to an external site (Links to an external site.)

1. Personal Replies: (10 pts)
2. Once you have completed your reading, post a reply to this discussion board answering the following questions:

Define the process of desalination.

What are some general potential pros of building desalination plants? (cite your own research here)

What are some general potential cons of building desalination plants? (cite your own research here)

Did you know they opened a couple desalination plants throughout coastal California to help reduce the threat of drought? Here is a link to the website for the one in Carlsbad so you can review their operation and protocols: http://carlsbaddesal.sdcwa.org/overview/Links to an external site.

Are these plants a good idea when considering all environmental impacts, energy usage, and resources managed to keep the plant active? Should we build more of them?

Now that you have explored the science behind these processes, this question is looking for your personal opinion and how you support your thoughts using data and scientific understanding. There is no right or wrong answer here, just back up what you say.

Be sure to explain why you have responded the way you have and support your answer with scientific evidence. 

1. You will have to post your own reply before you can see what your peers have written.
2. Peer Replies (5 points)
3. Here is your chance to interact with your peers. Reply to your peers posts and let them know what you think of their answer. Do you agree? Do you disagree? WHY? Please respond to 2-3 of your peers posts. Make sure your responses are thoughtful and grounded in scientific evidence, part of the points for the peer replies will be based on the thoughtfulness of your response. Show me you thought about it and debated both sides of this topic with yourself before replying to your peers!
4. Netiquette:

Please remember to use proper netiquette here and be kind to one another, even in disagreement. Please reference the netiquette page and the rules for discussion board responses in the orientation module.