饥渴的星球-【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡
节选自 【经济学人】 April， 2019
Thirsty planet
饥渴的星球
翻译练习： 青澄青果
饥渴的星球-【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡
If water is a proxy for life itself, it is perhaps not surprising that worries about the health and availability of supplies here on Earth can take on apocalyptic overtones. A scorching, arid future marked by a fierce, bloody struggle for a few drops of water is a standard theme of dystopian fiction and film-making. This report will examine how close such nightmares are to reality. It will look at the state of the world's freshwater and at the increasing demands on it, and consider the ways they can be met.
既然水源是生命的代名词，对水质及供应等问题的担忧甚至有时听起来还暗含世界末日的弦外之音，也就不足为奇了。在反乌托邦式的小说和电影中经常以此为主题，未来世界酷热难耐、寸草不生，人们为了几滴水而激烈血腥地战斗。本报告将研究是否噩梦离现实只有一步之遥。报告还分析了世界的淡水资源的状况和不断增长的需求以及如何弥合供需之间的差异的问题。
*apocalyptic--像世界末日的，预言有大灾难的，天启的
*scorching--酷热，灼热
*dystopian --反乌托邦的
饥渴的星球-【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡
This report will argue that misuse of water may indeed lead to a series of catastrophes. But the means to dodge them are already known, and new technologies are constantly evolving to help. The fundamental problems are neither the resource itself, since water is likely to remain abundant enough even for a more populous Earth, nor technical. They are managerial, or, more precisely, how to withstand economic, cultural and political pressures to mismanage water.
报告也指出了滥用水资源所可能导致的一系列灾难性后果。不过我们已经知晓如何避免并能通过对新技术的应用来避免这些灾难性结果。根本的问题不在于水资源本身，其实地球水资源足够丰富并能够保证供应更多的人口，根本问题也不在于技术。根本的问题还是在于管理，更精确地说，是如何顶住经济的、文化的和政治压力来保护水资源。
饥渴的星球-【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡
Even governments not facing the vexatious business of winning over voters struggle to institute sensible water policies. People regard access to water as a fundamental human right and hence as something that should be available on the basis of need, rather than the ability or willingness to pay. That makes it hard to charge a proper price for it, which in turn encourages profligate use.
即使是那些不用为拉选票苦恼的政府也很难制定出合理的水资源保护政策。人们把水的使用当作基本人权，认为应当按需供应而非按照购买力和购买意愿来供应。这就导致政府很难制定出合理的水价，随之也进一步导致了水的浪费。
*vexatious-causing or tending to cause annoyance; annoying, vexing, irritating, displeasing, maddening, harassing.
*institute-introduce or establish (a scheme, undertaking, policy)
*profligate-recklessly extravagant or wasteful int he use of resources
The present-day world provides ample examples of environmental devastation that serve as a warning that water usage has it natural limits. Meanwhile, global water use is six times greater than it was a century ago. The volume of water used is already near the maximum that can be sustained without supplies shrinking dangerously.
其实我们已经看到了环境损害的实例，警醒着人类水资源的有限性。与此同时，全球用水量却已经达到了上一个世纪的六倍多。这个用水量其实已经接近了水资源阈值，一旦超过这个阈值可能导致水资源供应缩减的危险。
The biggest uncertainty in projecting future demand lies in estimating how much will be needed for agriculture. Still less predictable is the impact of climate change. Wet places will become wetter and dry places drier. The world's water endowment is already highly unequal. The most dramatic short-term effects have been the increasing number of extreme weather events. In the long run, however, the bigger problem from climate change will not be too much water but too little.
最大的不确定性来自于对农业需求用水的预估。气候变化也是一个不可测因素。湿润的地区会更加湿润而干旱的地区更加干旱。全球水资源分布本来已经高度不均衡。而不断增长的极端天气可能会带来短期的激变效应。长此以往，气候变化所导致的不是水资源变多而是更少。
Decreasing streamflow is a worldwide phenomenon. Some of it results from declining rainfall. But much is the direct result of human intervention-the damming and diversion of rivers for flood control, water-storage and irrigation.
河流流量的减少是全球共有现象。有些是由于降水的减少。而大多数是人类干预的直接后果，诸如：为防洪、蓄水和农业灌溉而修建水坝和对河流进行改道。
饥渴的星球-【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡
饥渴的星球-【朝花夕拾】-【经济学人】每日打卡
