Fresh water scarcity: An introduction to the problem - Christiana Z. Peppard

关于淡水稀缺问题 - 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

You might have heard that we're running out of fresh water.

你应该知道我们的 淡水资源正变得越来越少

This might sound strange to you because,

如果你住的地方

if you live in a place where water flows freely

从水龙头和淋浴花洒里 随时都有清水流出

from the tap or shower at any time,

你可能会不相信淡水变少的论调

it sure doesn't seem like a big deal.

你一定觉得这不是 什么大不了的事情

It's just there, right?

淡水不是触手可及的吗？

Wrong!

你错了！

The only obvious thing about fresh water

唯一可以肯定的是

is how much we need it.

我们非常需要淡水

Because it's essential to life,

它是生命的必需品

we need to think about it carefully.

因此我们要慎重考虑淡水问题

Right now, at this very moment, some people,

当前，就在我做着 这个演讲的时候，一些人

women and girls in particular,

尤其是女人和孩子们

walk hours and miles per day to get fresh water,

为了获得淡水而长途跋涉数个小时

and even then, it may not be clean.

但这些水还是有可能不干净

Every 15 seconds, a child dies due to water-born diseases.

每 15 秒都有一个孩子 死于水源性疾病

This is tragic!

令人十分痛心

The most compelling reasons to think about fresh water,

为了全人类的利益

therefore, have to do with what we might call

我们必须

the global common good.

关注淡水问题

This is not something we normally think about,

淡水问题和其他任何事都不同

but it means recognizing how much fresh water matters

我们必须深刻意识到淡水的重要性

for the flourishing of human and non-human life on Earth

它对人类和地球上 所有动植物的昌盛和繁衍

now and in the future.

都是不可或缺的

How do we think about something

我们日常生活中的水龙头

as local as our faucets

和引起全球关注的淡水

and as global as fresh water?

和引起全球关注的淡水

Is there a connection between them?

这两者之间有什么关联吗？

Many people assume that fresh water shortages

人们都以为水资源短缺

are due to individual wastefulness:

是个人浪费造成的

running the water while you brush your teeth, for example,

比如刷牙时不关水龙头

or taking really long showers.

或长时间冲淋都是浪费行为

Most of us assume, therefore,

因此人们觉得

that water shortages can be fixed

只要改掉这些坏习惯

by improving our personal habits:

比如减少冲淋时间

taking shorter showers

刷牙时关掉水龙头

or turning off the water while we brush our teeth.

就能够解决缺水问题

But, global fresh water scarcity

然而，全球淡水短缺问题

neither starts nor ends in your shower.

并非由个人浪费而起 也不会因其而终

Globally, domestic use of fresh water

世界各国的生活用水量

accounts for only 8% of consumption,

只占淡水使用量的 8%

8%!!

仅仅 8%！

Compare that to the 70% that goes to agriculture

而农业用水达到 70%

and the 22% that goes to industrial uses.

工业用水为 22%

Now, hold up - you're not off the hook!

即便如此，你还是脱不了干系！

Individual habits are still part of the puzzle.

个人习惯也是淡水问题中的一环

You should still cultivate water virtue in your daily life,

你还是应该养成生活中节水的美德

turn off the tap when you brush your teeth.

在刷牙时关掉水龙头

But still, it's true.

可惜，实际上

Taking shorter showers won't solve global problems,

减少冲淋时间 解决不了缺水这一全球性问题

which is too bad.

这太糟了

It would be much more straightforward and easier

如果个人美德和行为能够有所帮助

if virtuous, individual actions could do the trick.

那问题的解决就简单明了多了

You'd just stand there for 30 seconds less,

只要你每天少冲淋 30 秒

and you'd be done with that irksome,

你就完成了

planet-saving task for the day.

当天恼人的拯救地球任务

Well, that's not so much the case.

可事实并非如此

Agricultural and industrial patterns of water use

农业和工业的用水模式

need serious attention.

才是我们真正应该严肃对待的

How do our societies value water?

社会是如何珍惜水资源的？

Distribute it?

分配用水？

Subsidize its use in agriculture?

补贴农业用水？

Incentivize its consumption or pollution?

还是对耗水和污染行为进行奖惩？

These are all questions that stem from

我们如何看待淡水的价值

how we think about fresh water's value.

决定了这些问题的存在

Is it an economic commodity?

淡水的价值是一种经济货物吗？

A human right?

是人类权利？

A public good?

还是公共利益？

Nobel prize winners,

诺贝尔奖得主

global water justice activists,

全球淡水公正活动家

transnational institutions like the United Nations,

联合国这样的跨国机构

and even the Catholic Church

以及天主教会

are at work on the issue.

都致力于研究淡水价值问题

But, it's tricky, too,

但讽刺的是

because the business of water

在 20 世纪里

became very profitable in the 20th century.

淡水生意变得十分有利可图

And profit is not the same thing as the common good.

获利程度远高于公共利益

We need to figure out

我们必须懂得

how to value fresh water as a public good,

如何将淡水视为一种公共利益

something that's vital for human and non-human life,

视为保证人类和动植物

now and in the future.

昌盛与繁衍的必需品

Now that's a virtuous, collective task

与你的个人节水行为相比

that goes far beyond your shower.

这是一项更为高尚 更需要齐心协力的任务