World Water Shortage
A new study warns that about thirty percent of the world's people may not have enough water by the year 2025.
A private American organization called Population Action International did the newstudy. It says more than three-hundred-thirty-five-million people lack enough water now. The people live in twenty-eight countries. Most of the countries are in Africa or the Middle East.
P-A-I researcher Robert Engelman says by the year 2025, about three-thousand-million people may lack water. At least 18 more countries are expected to have severe water problems. The demand for water keeps increasing. Yet the amount of water on Earth stays the same.
Mr. Engelman says the population in countries that lack water is growing faster than in other parts of the world. He says population growth in these countries will continue to increase.
The report says lack of water in the future may result in several problems. It may increase health problems. Lack of water often means drinking waters not safe. Mr. Engelman says there are problems all over the world because of diseases, such as cholera, which are carried in water. Lack of water may also result in more international conflict. Countries may have to compete for water in the future. Some countries now get sixty percent of their fresh water from other countries. This is true of Egypt, the Netherlands, Cambodia, Syria, Sudan, and Iraq. And the report says lack of water would affect the ability of developing to improve their economies. This is because new industries often need a large amount of water when they are beginning.
The Population Action International study gives several solutions to the water problem. One way, it says, is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose. Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water. A third way is to use less water of agriculture.
The report also says long-term solutions to the water problem must include controls on population growth. It says countries cannot provide clean water unless they slow population growth by limiting the number of children people have.
Global warming a bigger threat to poor
Global warming, modelled on computer here, kills more people than terrorism
Global warming threatens to reverse human progress, and make unachievable all UN targets to reduce poverty(聯合國所有減少貧窮的目標), according to some of the world's leading international and development groups.
In a report published today, Oxfam, Greenpeace, Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth, WWF(英國牛津救濟委員會、“綠色和平”組織、基督徒互援會、“地球之友”組織、世界野生動物基金組織) and 15 other groups say rich governments must immediately address(致力于) climate change to avoid even "obscene levels(無法忍受的程度)" of worldwide poverty.
"Food production, water supplies, public health and people's livelihoods are already being damaged and undermined," the report says. "There is no either/or approach possible(想找一個‘非此即彼'的辦法是不可能的). The world must meet its commitments to achieve poverty reduction and also tackle climate change. The two are inextricably linked(二者的聯系是難解難分的)."
The report, which draws on UN predictions of the effects of climate change in poor countries over the next 50 years, says poor countries will experience more flooding, declining food production, more disease and the deterioration or extinction of entire ecosystems(整個生態系統的退化甚至消失) on which many of the world's poorest people depend.
"Climate change needs to be addressed now. The poor will bear the brunt of the impacts. The frontline experience of many of us working in international development indicates that communities are having to combat more extreme weather conditions."
Climate change will play havoc(大范圍的破壞;浩劫) with agriculture and water supplies and will increase diseases. "By 2025 the proportion of the world's population living in countries of significant water stress will almost double, to 6 billion people. Tropical and sub-tropical areas will be hardest hit - those countries already suffering from food insecurity(食品短缺)".
Poor communities mostly do not need hi-tech solutions, but would most benefit from education, research and being shown how to farm better. The report says unchecked global warming(尚未得到抑制的全球變暖), more than wars or political upheaval(政變), will displace millions of people and destabilise many countries.
世界水資源的缺乏
一項新的研究結果提出警告：到2025年，世界上將有30%的人沒有足夠的水飲用。
這項研究是由美國一家名叫“人口行動”的私立機構進行的。報告說現在世界上有三億三千五百萬人沒有足夠的水。這些人主要分布在非洲或中東的28個國家。
人口行動組織的研究人羅博特.安格曼說，到2025年大約三十億人缺水。至少還有其他18個國家將可能面臨同樣嚴重的水短缺問題。人類對水的需求不斷上升，但地球上水的還是保持不變。
安格曼先生說，水短缺的國家的人口增長率要高于世界其他地區的人口增長率。他還說這些國家的人口出生率將持續增長。
報告表明，在未來，水資源的缺乏可能會導致一些嚴重的后果。首先它可能會產生更多的健康問題。水資源的缺乏就意味著飲用水不再有保障。安格曼先生說，諸如霍亂等在水中傳播的疾病會使世界出現許多問題。水缺乏也會引起更多的國際紛爭。各國可能由于水而發動戰爭�，F在有些國家，例如埃及，荷蘭，柬埔寨，敘利亞，蘇丹和伊拉克等，60%的純凈水是從國外進口的。報告認為水缺乏將影響發展國家發展經濟的能力。這是因為新工業在開始階段經常需要大量的水。
人口行動組織的研究報告為世界的水短缺問題提出了幾個解決的辦法。第一，找到多用途的用水方法。第二，教育人們不要浪費水資源。第三就是少用農業水。
報告同時表明，控制人口增長是長遠解決水缺乏問題不可缺少的措施之一。它說除非各國能通過限制生育來降低人口的增長，否則它們不可能提供干凈的水。
全球變暖加劇貧窮 氣候變化急待控制