What you need to know about desalination, a growing source of drinking water as scarcity deepens

Desalination—the process of removing salt from seawater to produce drinking water—is expanding globally as climate change intensifies droughts and disrupts water supplies in key regions. The technology addresses an increasingly urgent problem: freshwater scarcity driven by longer droughts, altered rainfall patterns, and wildfires that damage existing water infrastructure. Desalination plants are becoming economically viable in water-stressed areas, though they remain energy-intensive and raise environmental concerns about brine disposal. Countries and municipalities worldwide are investing in desalination as a hedge against future water shortages, particularly in arid regions and coastal areas vulnerable to drought. The shift reflects how climate pressures are forcing a reckoning with traditional water management and spurring investment in alternative supply sources.