水資源英文閱讀

Sinaquanon用水之過Watershortagesareagrowingproblem,butnotforthereasonsmostpeoplethink水資源愈發(fā)短缺，原因卻不如眾人所料THEoverthrowofMadagascar'spresident-inMmaricdhwaspartlycausedbywaterproblem—sinSouthKorea.Worriedbythedifficultiesofincreasingfoodsuppliesinitswater-stressedhomeland,Daewoo,aSouthKoreanconglomerate,signedadealtoleasenolessthanhalfMadagascar'sarablelandtogrowgrainforSouthKoreans.Widespreadangeratthetermsofthedeal(theisland'speolpdlehawvoeureceivedpracticallynothing)contributedtothepresident'sunpopularity.Oneofthenewleader'sfirstactswastoscraptheagreement.三月中旬，馬達(dá)加斯加總統(tǒng)下臺，水資源問題難逃其咎——韓國水資源問題。韓國大宇物流集團(tuán)由于擔(dān)心國內(nèi)水資源缺乏，糧食短缺日益嚴(yán)重，便租用馬達(dá)加斯加近一半面積的可耕種土地，用作韓國人民糧食供給。協(xié)議中的條款引起舉馬達(dá)加斯加不滿(因為人民幾乎一無所獲)，總統(tǒng)的支持率跌至谷底。新總統(tǒng)上任后第一把火，就是撕毀協(xié)議。Threeweeksbeforethat,ontheothersideoftheworld,GovernorArnoldSchwarzeneggerofCaliforniadeclaredastateofemergency.Notforthefirsttime,hethreatenedwaterrationinginthestate.“Itisclear,”saysarecentreportbytheUnitedNationsWorldWaterAssessmentProgramme,“thaturgentactionisneededifwearetoavoidaglobalwatercrisis.”此事三周前，在世界另一端的加利福尼亞，州長阿諾.施瓦辛格宣布事態(tài)緊急，揚(yáng)言要在州中分區(qū)供水——這已經(jīng)不是第一次了。聯(lián)合國世界水資源評估方案最近報道也稱：“顯然，如果我們希望避免全球水危急，就必須采取緊急行動?！盠ocalwatershortagesaremultiplying.Australiahassufferedadecade-longdrought.BrazilandSouthAfrica,whichdependonhydroelectricpower,havesufferedrepeatedbrownoutsbecausethereisnotenoughwatertodrivetheturbinesproperly.SomuchhasbeenpumpedoutoftheriversthatfeedtheAralSeainCentralAsiathatitcollapsedinthe1980sandhasbarelybeguntorecover.地方水資源短缺現(xiàn)象日益嚴(yán)峻。澳大利亞干旱十年，依賴水電的巴西和南非也因為缺水，渦輪不能正常運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，只得受限電之苦。河流抽水過量，中亞咸海供水不足，20世紀(jì)80年代發(fā)生了生態(tài)災(zāi)難后，一直沒能恢復(fù)。Yetlocalshortages,causedbyindividualactsofmismanagementorregionalproblems,areonething.Aglobalwatercrisis,whichimpingesonsuppliesoffoodandothergoods,oraffectsriversandlakeseverywhere,isquiteanother.Doestheworldreallyfaceaglobalproblem?個人行為管理不善或者區(qū)域問題引發(fā)地方性短缺是一回事，然而危及糧食和其他產(chǎn)品供應(yīng)，影響各處河流湖泊的水危機(jī)，則另當(dāng)別論?，F(xiàn)在的世界，當(dāng)真面臨著一個全球性問題嗎？Water,watereverywhere…水無處不在..…Notonthefaceofit.Thereisplentyofwatertogoaroundandhumanbeingsarenotusingallthatmuch.Everyyear,thousandsofcubickilometres(km3)offreshwaterfallasrainorsnoworcomefrommeltingice.Accordingtoastudyin2007,mostnationsoutsidetheGulfwereusingafifthorlessofthewaterthey—raetceleivaestin2000,theonlyyearforwhichfiguresareavailable.Theglobalaveragewithdrawaloffreshwaterwas9%oftheamountthatflowedthroughtheworld'shydrologiccycle.BothLatinAmericaandAfricausedlessthan6%(seetable).Onthisevidence,itwouldseemthatallwaterproblemsarelocal.表面看來，并非如此。環(huán)顧四周，水源充足，人類也并未使用如此之多。每年，雨雪和融冰所帶來的淡水資源有幾千立方千米。2007年一項報道稱，海灣地區(qū)之外的大部分國家最多也只使用所得水資源的1/5。世界水循環(huán)中，每年平均只有9%的淡水流失。拉丁美洲和非洲所用淡水都不過6%。這表明水資源問題，只有在地區(qū)內(nèi)發(fā)生。Thetroublewiththisconclusionisthatnooneknowshowmuchwaterpeoplecansafelyuse.Itiscertainlynot100%(theamounttakeninGulfstates)becausetherestofcreationalsohastoliveoffthewater.Inmanyplacesthemaximummaywellbelessthanonefifth,theaverageforAsiaasawhole.Itdependsonhowwaterisreturnedtothesystem,howmuchistakenfromundergroundaquifers,andsoon.此種結(jié)論的問題在于無人了解多少水資源能夠供人們安全使用。當(dāng)然，這一比例不會是海灣地區(qū)國家所稱的100%，因為其他生物也需要靠水才能夠生存。許多地區(qū)，最多也只有不過1/5的水源能夠放心使用——整個亞洲地區(qū)的平均值即是如此。多少水能夠回歸生態(tài)系統(tǒng)，人們從地下蓄水層中又抽取多少等，均為其決定因素。Butthereissomeadmittedlypatchyevidencethat,givencurrentpatternsofuseandabuse,theamountnowbeingwithdrawnismovingdangerouslyclosetothelim—itaonfdsafetyinsomeplacesbeyondit.Analarmingnumberoftheworld'sgreatriversnolongerreachthesea.TheyincludetheIndus,RioGrande,Colorado,Murray-DarlingandYellowrivers.Thesearethearteriesoftheworld'smain-ggraroinwingareas.但一些零散的證據(jù)卻不置可否：按照現(xiàn)在濫用水源的方式，水流失之量正逼近安全限度——而在某些地區(qū)已經(jīng)超過。許多世界大河未曾入海就已斷流，數(shù)量相當(dāng)驚人：印度河、格蘭德河、科羅拉多河、墨累-達(dá)令河和黃河莫不如此——而這些都是世界主要糧食種植地區(qū)的大動脈。Freshwaterfishpopulationsareinprecipitousdecline.AccordingtotheWorldWideFundforNature,fishstocksinlakesandrivershavefallenroughly30%since1970.Thisisabiggerpopulationfallthanthatsufferedbyanimalsinjungles,temperateforests,savannahsandanyotherlargeecosystem.Halftheworld'swetlands,ononeestimate,weredrained,damagedordestroyedinthe20thcentury,mainlybecause,asthevolumeoffreshwaterinriversfalls,saltwaterinvadesthedelta,changingthebalancebetweenfreshandsaltwater.Onthisevidence,theremaybesystemicwaterproblems,aswellaslocaldisruptions.淡水魚數(shù)量急劇下滑。世界大自然基金會稱，自1970年起，河流湖泊內(nèi)的魚類資源已有大約30%滅絕，比叢林、溫帶森林、大草原和其他大型生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中動物消失數(shù)量還要多。據(jù)估計，20世紀(jì)中，世界上的一半濕地都已干涸、毀壞或慘遭破壞，原因主要在于河流中淡水資源減少，咸水趁勢侵入三角洲，打破淡咸水平衡。如此看來，水資源問題和地區(qū)性破壞問題，都可能會系統(tǒng)化。Twoglobaltrendshaveaddedtothepressureonwater.Botharelikelytoaccelerateovercomingdecades.兩項全球性趨勢也給水問題帶來了壓力——而這兩項趨勢在未來幾十年中都有加速傾向。Thefirstisdemography.Overthepast50years,astheworld'spopulationrosefrom3billionto6.5billion,wateruseroughlytrebled.Oncurrentestimates,thepopulationisY非Mu'Wooo'S御里母’常B：舄WPPWIWffYWOBf。極OO'SL禪訓(xùn)固曬啓7?和)00'L詠M事fg—哥唯°WSWW^±WWWWW<^±■(6uiqsEMpuu6ui>|uupui人cpeS9Ji!|os乙一00lisnjosnsjaujajsaM'uosuudiuoD」oj)人cpeS9Ji!|000'乙inoqcosneisvpuuedujvjosjaipueuej969aaqi93npo」doj人cpej9JEmjoS9Ji!|000'Spuno」EsdJinbo」suuadojnmpuusuEDuaiuvjoidip人jpaiuaqi-jaaqjo0|i>|eanpojdojjajemjoS9Jii|000'SLseipniusesa>|Ejii剛-sajjii000'Lpuno」EssjinbmjuaqMjoiuej6o|i>|emoj6o丄uajEMjosiunoluejuajajjip人nEDippjmmbajspoojjuajajjiaX)L/L孕邸I購單獨吐匪現(xiàn)百/L超W宙亦工切￡切書刖他苗利釦平宙亦蘋。亞鯽'呈抽國由用海皿’辜國切番的老餌呦°IBWS^Ll}YW曹瀟隔0口丫書非側(cè)嗨晉*螂裒。聊辭酈附遙一一0陽剽fRl暗■qjuajdJdiuejojsiunoddeosn|Edp!uniujoDijsaiuoppuuqyijeue屮ssa|sasn人jjsnpu!JajEMupjjcdsoissmenb—99」ipinoqcosnsjaiujEj7」pseassqi”ue」poq/v\juei6uuipui|EDiqj人iudqi'e人qjsu6vujapoiudqisimrn|ndu6eosnEDaqjojdpj9|6uis人ueuuqj9J0LUSJ9JJELUjaia'jaippuusjiquq6ui6uEqDinqosnjajEMojaDuajajjipjsa66iq9屮sa>|EUJjuqj9|doadjojaqiunu“n|osqu9屮jousii|-ajoiujo|eA|qissod'ajoiu人q'」b屮ejjo。叫質(zhì)NW印盪蚩*。刁0￡tW律OSO乙底'刁0乙易糧軌口丫煙曲5乙0乙支WIOWSsW°WO?I?W'刁S9底仙刀0￡0口￥#甲’申古OS簾?？赮￥—甘?人|6uipjODDE9SU||imjajemjojpuEiuaa'OS0乙人quo!||!q￡人qpuu，乙0乙人q口0川舊乙jaqjjnje人qdsuoj人p>|!|Sotheshiftfromvegetariandietstomeat—ywonheicshcontributedtothefood-priceriseof2007-0—8hasbigimplicationsforwater,too.In1985Chinesepeopleate,onaverage,20kgofmeat;thisyear,theywilleataround50kg.Thisdifferencetranslatesinto390km3(1km3is1trillionlitres)ofw—aatlemrostasmuchastotalwateruseinEurope.因此，素食習(xí)慣向肉食的轉(zhuǎn)變不僅是造成2007-08年食物價格上漲的原因，而且對水也起著至關(guān)重要的作用。1985年，中國人平均每人消費肉類20千克，今年則估計達(dá)到50千克。也就是說，390立方千米(一立方千米=一萬億升)的水因此消失，相當(dāng)于歐洲的總用水量。Theshiftofdietwillbeimpossibletoreversesinceitisaproductofrisingwealthandurbanisation.Ingeneral,“waterintensity”infoodincsrteassteassfpaeoplebegintoclimboutofpoverty,becausethatiswhentheystarteatingmoremeat.Soiflivingstandardsinthepoorestcountriesstarttoriseagain,wateruseislikelytosoar.Moreover,almostallthe2billionpeoplewhowillbeaddoetdhetworld'spopulationbetweennowand2030aregoingtobethird-worldcitydwe—llaenrsdcitypeopleusemorewaterthanruralfolk.TheFoodandAgricultureOrganisationreckonsthat,withoutchangesinefficiency,theworldwillneedasmuchas60%morewaterforagriculturetofeedthose2billionextramouths.Thatisroughly1,500km3ofthe—satusffmuchasiscurrentlyusedforallpurposesintheworldoutsideAsia.飲食習(xí)慣的改變不太可能逆轉(zhuǎn)，因為此乃富?；?、城市化的產(chǎn)物?？傮w而言，飲食方面的“用水密度”隨人們脫貧，達(dá)到最快速的增長，因為自此種情況下，人們攝入肉類增多。如果世界最貧困的地區(qū)生活水平再次上升，用水量就會飆升。加之從現(xiàn)在到2030年，全球預(yù)計增加的20億人口，幾乎全部處于第三世界城市中——而城市用水要多于農(nóng)村地區(qū)。世界糧農(nóng)組織認(rèn)為，如果用水效率不加以改觀，世界對農(nóng)業(yè)的水需求要增加60%，才足夠喂養(yǎng)多出的20億張嘴巴。換句話說，用水量需要增加1,500立方千米——相當(dāng)于亞洲地區(qū)以外全世界現(xiàn)在的用水總量。Theotherlong-termtrendaffectingwaterisclimatechange.Thereisgrowingevidencethatglobalwarmingisspeedingupthehydrolog—icthcyactlies,therateatwhichwaterevaporatesandfallsagainasrainorsnow.Thishigherrateseemstomakewetregionsmoresodden,andaridonesdrier.Itbringslongerdroughtsbetweenmoreintenseperiodsofrain.另一影響水資源的長期趨勢即為氣候變化。越來越多的證據(jù)表明，全球變暖正在加速水循環(huán)——也就是水蒸發(fā)后再度以雨雪形式返回生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的速率。速率變大，濕潤地區(qū)就會更加潮濕，而干旱地區(qū)則更加干燥。干旱期會越來越長，而與其交叉的降水期則更加密集。Climatechangehasthreebigimplicationsforwateruse.First,itchangesthewayplantsgrow.Trees,forexample,reacttodownpourswithaspurtofgrowth.Duringthelongerdroughtsthatfollow,theextrabiomassthendriesupsothatiflightningstrikes,forestsburnmorespectacularly.Similarlycropsgrowtoofast,thenwilt.氣候變化對于用水有三大影響。首先，它改變了植物的生長方式。樹木遇到傾盆大雨，會迅猛增長。而在接下來的長期干旱中，超額的生物質(zhì)量會干旱，如遇閃電，森林大火則更加嚴(yán)重。同樣，莊稼生長也會過快，然后干旱枯萎。Second,climatechangeincreasesproblemsofwatermanagement.Largerfloodsoverwhelmexistingcontrols.Reservoirsdonotstoreenoughtogetpeopleorplantsthroughlongerdroughts.Inaddition,globalwarmingmeltsglaciersandcausessnowtofallasrain.Sincesnowandicearenaturalregulators,storingwaterinwinterandreleasingitinsummer,countriesareswingingmoreviolentlybetweenfloodanddrought.Thatisonebigreasonwhydams,onceadirtywordindevelopment,havebeenmakingacomeback,especiallyinAfricancountrieswithplentyofwaterbutnostoragecapacity.Thenumberoflargedams(morethan15metreshigh)hasbeenincreasingandtheorderbooksofdambuildersarebulging.第二，氣候變化引發(fā)更多水資源管理方面的問題。管理措施高一尺，洪水聲勢高一丈。水庫的儲存量無法保證人們和植物度過更長的干旱期。除此之外，由于全球變暖，冰川融化，降雪量減少，降雨量增加。而冰雪是自然的調(diào)度站，冬日儲水，夏天釋放，如此一來，許多國家氣候變化更為劇烈，常常在洪水過后經(jīng)歷干旱。于是曾經(jīng)一度為發(fā)展所不齒的水壩現(xiàn)在也卷土重來，尤其是在水量充足卻無儲存能力的非洲。大型水壩(高于15米)數(shù)量日益增多，水壩建造公司現(xiàn)在訂單應(yīng)接不暇。Third,climatechangehaspersuadedwesterngovernmentstosubsidisebiofuels,whichcouldproveasbigadisasterforwaterastheyalreadyhavebeenforfood.Atthemoment,about2%ofirrigatedwaterisusedtogrowcropsforenergy,or44km3.Butifallthenationalplansandpoliciestoincreasebiofuelsweretobeimplemented,reckonstheUN,theywouldrequireanextra180km3ofwater.Thoughsmallcomparedwiththeincreaserequiredtofeedtheadditional2billionpeople,thebiofuels'premiumisstillsubstantial.第三，因為氣候變化，許多西方國家都被說服補(bǔ)助生產(chǎn)生物燃料——這為水帶來的災(zāi)難不亞于它們對糧食造成的影響。眼下用來培養(yǎng)能源作物約占灌溉水的2%，也就是44立方千米。聯(lián)合國稱，如果所有國家增加生物能源的計劃政策都加以實施，則需要另外180平方千米的水資源。同供給新增20億人民糧食所用的水相比，這算不了什么，可是生物燃料需求還是不容小覷。Inshort,morewaterwillbeneededtofeedandheataworldthatisalreadyshowingsignsofusingtoomuch.Howtosquarethatcircle?Theanswerisbyimprovingtheefficiencywithwhichwaterisused.Thegoodnewsisthatthisispossible:vastinefficienciesexistwhichcanbewrungout.Thebadnewsisitwillbedifficultbothbecauseitwillrequirepeopletochangetheirhabitsandbecausegovernments,whichmightcajolethemtomakethechanges,arepeculiarlybadatwaterpolicy.總而言之，解決這個已經(jīng)過度用水世界的“溫飽”問題，還須更多水資源——這根本沒希望的事情該如何解決呢？答案是提高用水效率。比較讓人欣慰的是這不無可能：低效現(xiàn)象普遍存在，通過適當(dāng)途徑能夠得以解決；然而也有壞消息：解決水問題需要人們改變生活習(xí)慣，加之政府雖然有可能設(shè)法讓人們做出改變，卻格外不擅長制定水務(wù)政策，因此這個問題還是相當(dāng)棘手的?！璶oranydroptodrink無水可飲Improvingefficiencyisdoableandindustrialusershavedoneit,cuttingtheamountofwaterneededtomakeeachtonneofsteelandeachextraunitofGDPinmostrichcountries(seefirstchart).Thiscanmakeadifference.ThePacificInstitutereckonsthat,merelybyusingcurrentwater-savingpractices(ie,notechnologicalbreakthroughs)California,awater-poorstate,couldmeetallitsneedsfordecadestocomewithoutusingadropmore.改善用水效率，此法可行，而且工業(yè)中已經(jīng)做到一一富裕國家中，每噸鋼鐵和每單位GDP所需水量都已減少。這意義重大。太平洋研究所稱，僅通過現(xiàn)行的節(jié)水方案(即在沒有其他科技突破的情形下)，水源匱乏的加利福尼亞可以不多使用一滴水，而滿足接下來幾十年的需要。Still,industryconsumeslessthanafifthoftheworld'swaterandthebigquestionishowtogetfarmers,whouse70-80%,tofollowsuit.IttakesatleastthreetimesasmuchwatertogrowmaizeinIndia,forexample,asitdoesinAmericaorChina(seesecondchart).Insomecountries,youneed1,500litresofwatertoproduceakiloofwheat;inothers,only750litres.Itdoesnotnecessarilyfollowthatwaterisbeingusedunsustainablyintheoneplaceandnottheother;perhapsthehigh-usageplaceshaveplentyofwatertospare.Butitdoessuggestthatbettermanagementcouldreducetheamountofwaterusedinfarming,andthattheworldcouldbebetteroffiffarmersdidso.Changingirrigationpracticescanimprovewaterefficiencyby30%,saysChandraMadramootoo,oftheInternationalCommissiononIrrigationandDrainage.Onecan,forexample,ensurewaterevaporatesfromtheleavesoftheplant,ratherthanfromthesoil.Oronecangeneticallymodifycropssotheystopgrowingwhenwaterrunsdry,butd—othneoytdsimeplyresumegrowthlaterwhentherainsreturn.工業(yè)用水仍不及總量的1/5，現(xiàn)在一個很大的問題在于：如何讓使用世界上70-80%水資源的農(nóng)民們加入節(jié)水潮流。在印度種植玉米的用水量是美國或中國的三倍之多。某些國家中生產(chǎn)一公斤小麥需水1,500升，而另一些地方只需750升。這并不是說有些地方可持續(xù)用水而另外的地方不然，可能用水多的地方水源充足。但是這卻表明我們可以通過更加有效的管理來減少農(nóng)業(yè)用水量，如果農(nóng)民們也能效仿此行，全球景況將會有所改善。國際灌排委員會主席曼德拉穆圖說，改變灌溉方式，可以將用水效率提高30%。比如說，我們可以讓水從植物葉面蒸發(fā)，而非土壤中；或者我們可以通過轉(zhuǎn)基因，讓植物在水源匱乏之時停止增長，而不死亡——再次降雨之時，它們可以再度生長。Theworldmightalsobebetteroff,atleastintermsofwater,iftradepatternsmorecloselyreflectedtheamountofwaterembeddedintradedgoods(aconceptcalled“virtualwater”inventedbyTonyAllanofKing'sCollegenL)o.nSdoomebenigneffectshappenalready:MexicoimportscerealsfromAmericawhichuse7billioncubicmetres(m3)ofwater.Ifitgrewthesecerealsitself,itwoulduse16billionm3,sotrade“saves”9billionm3ofwater.Butsuchbeneficialexchangesoccurmorebychancethandesign.Becausemostwateruseisnotmeasured,letalonepriced,traderarelyreflectswaterscarcities.如果貿(mào)易模式能夠更好地反映貨物中的含水量（倫敦大學(xué)國王學(xué)院的托尼.阿蘭所發(fā)明的“虛擬水”這一說法），世界也會有所改善——最起碼在水方面。一些良性效應(yīng)已經(jīng)有所體現(xiàn)：墨西哥從美國進(jìn)口用水70億立方米的谷類植物，相對自身種植所需160億立方米，就能夠通過貿(mào)易“節(jié)約”90億平方米。但是此類有益的交流更多的是出于偶然，而非處于策劃——因為大部分水都未曾經(jīng)過測量，更不用說標(biāo)價，因此水匱乏無從體現(xiàn)。Tomakewaterusemoreefficient,saysKoichiroMatsuura,theheadofUNESCO,themainUNagencydealingwithwater,willrequirefundamentalchangesofbehaviour.Thatmeanschangingincentives,improvinginformationflows,andimprovingthewaywateruseisgoverned.Allthatwillbehard.處理水問題的主要聯(lián)合國機(jī)構(gòu)聯(lián)合國教科文組織總干事松浦晃一郎說，要想更高效利用水資源，就需要我們在行為上做出徹底改變。這就意味著修訂獎勵方案，改善信息流通和水資源管理——這些都絕非易事。Waterisrarelypricedinwaysthatreflectsupplyanddemand.Usually,waterpricingsimplymeansthatcitydwellerspayforthecostofthepipesthattransportitandthesewerageplantsthatcleanit.目前的水價格，幾乎不反映供求。通常情況下，城市居民所支付的水價只不過是運(yùn)輸水的管道費用和污水處理廠的清理費用。Basicinformationaboutwhouseshowmuchwaterislacking.Rainwaterandriverflowscanbemeasuredwithsomeaccuracy.Buttheamountpumpedoutoflakesisamatterofguessworkandinformationonhowmuchistakenfromundergroundaquifersisalmostcompletelylacking.用水人，用水量的基本信息現(xiàn)在均不充足。雨水河水能夠比較精確地測量，但是從湖中抽取的水量則純屬臆測，地下蓄水層的水量信息幾乎空白。Thegovernanceofwaterisalsoamess.Untilrecently,fewpoorcountriestreateditasascarceresource,nordidtheythinkabouthowitwouldaffecttheirdevelopmentprojects.Theytookitforgranted.水管理也是一團(tuán)亂麻。就是現(xiàn)在，也很少有貧窮國家認(rèn)為水資源稀缺，更不去考慮水資源會影響他們的發(fā)展項目。他們認(rèn)為用水純是理所當(dāng)然。AlongsidethisinsouciancegoesaBalkaniseddecision-makingprocess,withnumerousoverlappingauthoritiesresponsiblefordifferentwatersheds,sanitationplantsandirrigation.Totakeasmallexample,themodesttownofCharlottesvillein