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or some time the world has been in a warming cycle. A lot of water long trapped in polar ice caps, glaciers, and tundra is being freed as melting occurs. If this trend continues the sea level may increase enough to flood coastal areas – including major cities.

Portfolio of Risk “L oss of freshwater services" was identified by the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Network as one of the 23 core global risks to the international community over the next 10 years in its "Global Risks 2007" report, released in January. The annual report was written in collaboration with Citigroup, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Swiss Re and Wharton School Risk Center.    Climate change is a central tenet of the scenario-based document, which includes terrorism, energy security and pandemics in its portfolio of risks. Among its recommendations for mitigating risk is the appointment by nations of "country risk officers" analogous to a corporation's chief risk officer.    According to the authors' global risk barometer, the risk of freshwater loss is headed upward because "the mitigation effects of improved water-pricing have yet to have an effect; economic development and global warming have increased the risk to the sustainability of many already stressed freshwater systems worldwide, particularly in Asia."

   Some people are already in a panic about this possibility. Even conservative analysts agree that there is a potential problem. Some corporate facility planners are beginning to wonder about locating new plants at coastal sites. Some scholars say flooding will be a big factor in 20 years. (Others say 50 or more.)
   What to do? One school of thought is that the problem can be solved by building dikes to protect cities and other assets. They point to the impressive dike system built by the Netherlands to protect a large land area previously flooded by the North Sea. This is very expensive. It would consume resources needed to sustain growing populations. However, if the need were desperate enough, the dikes could be built. Also, there are some far-out proposals to try to change the world's climate and refreeze polar regions. However, no practical scheme has emerged.
   We are intrigued by another possible solution: The people of the world don't have enough drinking water. Deserts are expanding and, despite efforts to reduce waste plus drilling deeper into aquifers, many cities in non-desert areas are facing critical water shortages. For many areas this is not a future problem – it is already here.
   There is only one place the world can go to find the water it needs – the oceans. Along the Arabian Gulf such nations as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman have shown the way. They have built sea water desalting plants and created new sources of potable water for cities, industries and farms.
   Some of the newest and largest desalting plants in the region can process a billion gallons per day. Compare that with the estimated 50 billion gallons per year that flow into the ocean from the melting Greenland ice pack.
   We don't know the net effect of a desalting plant on the sea level. We know that some very salty water is returned to the sea. However, most of the product of a desalting plant is widely distributed on shore among people, plants and processes. Some eventually goes into the atmosphere via transpiration.
   Is it possible, we ask, for desalting plants to be a factor in controlling the sea level?
   We are not talking about one or two big plants. The world is going to need hundreds of plants. Moreover, bigger plants of the future may each process two or three billion gallons per day. We believe a hundred such plants might draw enough water from the oceans to minimize the flooding threat.
   Instead of building dikes that serve no purpose other than flood control, the world could build desalting plants that would bring deserts to life and enhance the quality of life of billions of people – clearly a better investment.

New Conway Book Tackles 'Great Global Idea Race'    Site Selection Publisher McKinley Conway has certainly never wanted for new ideas. Now the development industry pioneer is taking that quest to a broader scale with his new book, The Great Global Idea Race (available online at Amazon).    "The key element in the development success equation today is ideas," Conway writes. "How can these idea development processes be improved? Where? By whom? What will be your role? That's what this book is all about."    Conway starts with a look at how great ideas have developed through history. Chapters focus on the brain storms behind creating important infrastructure elements, high-tech ventures and leading governmental systems, for example.    "The great works of man exist today because someone had a dream and took a chance," he notes. Generating Growth Ideas    Conway also investigates the vital ideas driving corporate growth – a subject he knows well. Conway's legacy includes founding the first-ever magazine focused on corporate real estate and economic development, two precedent-setting industry associations and the first development-focused Internet site, SiteNet, in 1983. The NASA veteran particularly notes how real estate executives' potent synergies with area developers have made for smarter growth.    In the past, he notes, "area marketers got about as good a view of a corporate facility planner as tourists do of the Loch Ness monster. … Many facilities were located without any contact whatsoever with area organizations. Today veteran corporate planners seldom undertake a project without contacting them."    Similarly, generating the best ideas for future growth "will require a strong cooperative effort by private corporations and public development agencies," Conway contends. Which Areas Are Winning?    Conway shares his thoughts as well on the areas that are developing dominant ideas today.    "There may be as many as 100 emerging super cities around the world," he observes, with U.S. contenders including Atlanta; Dallas; Denver; Honolulu; Orlando; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City; and Seattle. Global cities "most apt to attain super status" include Bangkok, Thailand; Bangalore (now Bengalooru), India; Istanbul, Turkey; Shanghai, China; and Wuhan, China.    Creating ideas is no idle exercise, Conway emphasizes.    "There is more to success than generating ideas," he writes. "Idea harvesting, follow-up and implementation are equally important. Even that is not enough. The best rewards go to those who implement ideas and put them into use in the shortest time. The timeline is all-important."