Introduction

The damaging implications of our failure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into our atmosphere are increasingly apparent. Rising global temperatures, melting ice caps, droughts and aridification, extreme weather conditions, and new disease vectors were predicted decades ago. All are in play today and with average global temperatures set to go well beyond those prevailing over the last past 10,000 years, the environment will become much more uncomfortable than it is today. The availability, or otherwise, of freshwater will be a major challenge in many countries around the world, and innovative solutions are needed. Desalination is one solution and is expected to play an increasingly important role throughout this century.