Explanation: Yes, salt water can be used to put out wildfires. However, salt water can harm plant life: some species are sensitive to salinity levels. It can also be impractical to use saltwater, if the fires occur far from the coast.

Fire can be put out with seawater, though it is not usually used to do so. Saltwater can effectively extinguish fire, but it may damage firefighting equipment and hurt plant life if used. Saltwater use creates problems for both the water distributing equipment and the surrounding environment.

Ocean water is salt water. While during a fire that may seem unimportant, it’s really very important. First, salt water can damage equipment not intended for salt water use. Salt water increases corrosion severely.

Thirdly, water bombers cannot (or do not) operate at night and under high winds, the very conditions when the most damaging forest fires occur. Sea water could be used, provided the tankers have access to it, but dropping salt water onto catchment areas or farms would only add to the problems caused by the fire.

Islands tend to get all their fresh groundwater from rainfall. So islands like those in the southern Bahamas, which mostly have lakes already and lose more water to evaporation than they take in from rain, could face a real problem.

Ghyben–Herzberg relation The Ghyben–Herzberg ratio states that, for every meter of fresh water in an unconfined aquifer above sea level, there will be forty meters of fresh water in the aquifer below sea level.

Though all Pacific Islands have access to a whole ocean of salt water, large-scale desalination requires too much energy to be feasible. Therefore, precipitation is the source of all freshwater for the islands.

“There are only a few hand-dug wells,” says Martinez, “and they are very shallow.” Mona’s aquifer remains close to its natural state, an ideal model for understanding how a small island retains and circulates groundwater. …