Where we get our fresh water - Christiana Z. Peppard

淡水的来源 - 克里斯汀娜·佩帕德

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

翻译人员: Yinglei Li 校对人员: Geoff Chen

At birth, our bodies are roughly 75% water.

在出生时，我们身体里 75% 是水

We remain mostly water for the rest of our lives.

长大之后身体绝大部分仍然是水

We cannot survive even a week without fresh water.

如果没有淡水，我们活不过一周

There's no life without it

没有淡水，生命将不复存在

for ecosystems,

societies,

没有生态系统

没有社会

and individuals.

也没有我们人类

So, how much usable water is there on Earth?

那么，地球上究竟有多少可用淡水呢？

Most of the water on Earth is ocean,

地球上大部分水都是含盐的海水

a salty 97.5%, to be precise,

具体比例为 97.5%

and the remaining 2.5% is fresh water.

剩下的 2.5% 才是淡水

That little sliver of liquid sustains human life on Earth,

这一点点淡水是 地球上人类的生命之泉

it literally holds up civilizations.

从本质上讲，是它维持着我们的文明

2.5% is a small proportion to be sure,

毫无疑问，2.5% 是个很小的比例

and even that is broken down into smaller parts:

但即便如此，淡水还能分成几个种类：

surface water,

地表水

water in ice caps and polar regions,

冰盖和极地地区含水

and ground water.

以及地下水

First, surface water.

首先，地表水

All the liquid water above ground is surface water

是指所有地面上的流水

and it is a tiny blip of an amount.

含量极小

0.3% of all fresh water is surface water.

占淡水比例只有 0.3%

It may seem counterintuitive,

可能与你想象的不同

but it accounts for little streams all over the planet.

但这 0.3% 的淡水确实 构成了地球上所有大川小溪

All rivers, including the Nile, the Jordan, and the Mississippi,

包括尼罗河、约旦河 和密西西比河等河流

and lakes, large to small,

以及大大小小的湖泊

like Victoria, the Great Lakes, and Baikal.

比如维多利亚湖、 美国五大湖和贝加尔湖等

Second, ice caps and polar regions

其次，冰盖和极地地区含水

freeze up to 70% of the planet's fresh water.

以冰的形式占据地球 70% 的含水量

This water is significant,

这部分水很重要

but it isn't available for human use in a regular way.

但人们通常不能直接使用它

Finally, nearly 30% of all water on Earth is ground water.

最后，将近 30% 的淡水是地下水

As the name suggests, that's water in the ground.

正如它的名字，这种水存在于地下

It can rest still and deep in huge caverns,

它储藏在巨大洞穴的地底深处

or it can snuggle in the little crevices of rock and pebble.

也有些地下水在岩石 和卵石的缝隙间流淌

The upshot - thank goodness for ground water!

感谢上帝赋予我们地下水

It's invisible to us,

虽然看不见

but it is much more plentiful than surface water.

但地下水含量比地表水大得多

It is much more reliable

地下水的供给更稳定

and easier to obtain than frozen water.

而且比冰更容易获取

Without ground water, our societies would be parched.

如果没有地下水 我们整个社会都要蒸发了

So, how are we using that water?

那么我们如何使用淡水呢？

As a result of industrialization and population growth,

由于工业化进程和人口增长

demand for fresh water skyrocketed in the last century.

上个世纪我们对淡水的需求突飞猛涨

Where is all that water going?

淡水都到那里去了？

First, we have to remember

首先要记住

that fresh water is a global concern,

全球都在关注淡水问题

but it is always local.

但必须从地方做起 才能解决这一问题

Context matters.

我们面临的情况很严峻

The Sahara is not Seattle.

尽管撒哈拉沙漠不在西雅图

Still, some general information can help us

但通过其他一些基本信息

get a handle on major trends.

我们能了解淡水问题的主要趋势

Who consumes the most fresh water?

谁消耗了大部分淡水？

And, what sectors consume the most fresh water?

又是哪个行业耗水最多？

First, who.

首先，第一个问题

Well, the United States consumes the most water

和世界上任一国家相比

per capita of any country in the entire world,

美国的人均耗水量最大

followed by parts of Europe

其次为欧洲部分地区

and large industrializing nations like China.

还有中国这样的工业大国

But, this doesn't tell us what water is being used for.

但我们并不知道使用的是哪种水

So let's look at it another way.

因此我们换个角度来看

If we ask what kinds of uses water is going towards,

当我们调查用水去向时

we see a different picture.

出现了大不相同的结果

Agriculture accounts for roughly 70% of global fresh water consumption.

大约 70% 的地球淡水使用在农业方面

Again, remember the numbers vary by region,

虽然这个比率因地区不同而有所起伏

but still, it's a staggering amount.

但它还是令人吃惊

And, this makes a certain kind of sense:

而且我们有以下的固定思维：

we need to eat,

我们需要食物

we need water to grow food;

食物靠水成长

the bigger the population,

人口越大

the more food we need;

需要的食物越多

and, the wealthier we get,

我们越富有

the more meat we eat,

吃的肉越多

and the more water is required to produce our food.

用于出产食物的水也就越多

Furthermore, 22% of all fresh water worldwide

此外，全球 22% 的淡水

goes to industrial uses.

用在工业方面

This includes the production of electricity,

包括发电

the extraction of fossil fuels,

提取化石燃料

and the manufacturing of all manner of goods,

加工各种产品

from microchips,

to paper,

比如微芯片

纸

to blimps.

以及隔音罩

70% to agriculture,

70% 的水用于农业

22% to industrial uses,

22% 用于工业

what's left?

那剩下的呢？

8%

剩下的 8%

All those domestic uses -

是生活用水

cooking,

用于烹饪

cleaning,

bathing,

洗涤

洗澡

drinking

饮用

- it's a drop in the bucket of overall water use.

和人类用水总量相比 生活用水量可算得沧海一粟