VOA慢速英语--全球四分之一的人面临水资源短缺

One in Four People at Risk of Lacking Water

One in four people around the world is at risk of facing dangerous water shortages, an American research organization warned Tuesday. India is at the highest risk.

Seventeen countries face "extremely high water stress" because they use 80 percent of their available water each year. The situation is made worse by a rise in dry periods linked to climate change, the World Resources Institute or WRI said.

"We're currently facing a global water crisis," said Betsy Otto, director of WRI's global water program.

New information from WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas¹ showed the countries suffering most are in and around the Middle East and North Africa.

The WRI Atlas is a risk-mapping tool that helps governments, companies, investors², and other users understand where and how water risks arise worldwide.

Qatar is the most water-stressed country, followed by Israel and Lebanon.

India is 13th among "extremely high" water-stressed nations. But with a population of more than 1.3 billion, it has more than three times the people in the other 16 countries combined. In those countries, agriculture, industry and cities depend on avoiding water "bankruptcy³."

Water bankruptcy means there is no possibility of full recovery from water shortages.

India's sixth-largest city, Chennai, was the latest city worldwide to warn it could be without water, as water storage levels fell.

That followed similar announcements from South Africa's Cape⁴ Town last year and Brazil's Sao Paulo in 2015.

"We're likely to see more of these kinds of 'Day Zeros' in the future," said Otto.

Many things threaten the world's water supplies, from climate change to poor supervision⁵, WRI said.

High dependence⁶ on groundwater supplies, which are decreasing, is an added concern, Paul Reig told reporters. He leads work on the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. Reig noted⁷ groundwater supplies are difficult to measure and manage because they are deep below the Earth’s surface.

Nearly a third of the world's fresh water is groundwater. That information comes from the U.S. Geological Survey, a government agency.

"Because we don't understand (groundwater), and don't see it, we manage it very poorly," Reig said.

WRI's Atlas listed 189 countries in order of water stress, drought and river flood risk. The organization worked with universities and research organizations in the Netherlands and Switzerland, using information from the 1960s to 2014.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

water stress – n. when the demand for water exceeds the available amount during a period or when poor quality restricts use

global – adj. involving the entire world

reservoir – n. a usually manmade lake that is used to store a large supply of water for use in people's homes and in businesses

manage – v. to have control of something, such as a business, department, sports team

1 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

4 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

5 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

6 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。