外刊精读(十)：CouldaLackofWaterCauseWars

1、考研VIP 只为更出众Could a Lack of Water Cause Wars?缺水会导致战争吗？By Pola LemWater scarcity poses a greater risk of turmoil under global warming, the World Bank argues【生词】turmoil 混乱【翻译】世界银行认为，在全球变暖下，水资源匮乏会加大混战的风险。Water scarcity is expected to increase globally as populations boom and climate change sharpens unce

2、rtainty around the resource's availability, according to a report by the World Bank.【生词】scarcity 短缺【翻译】据世界银行的报道，随着人口激增与环境变化使资源使用的不确定性尖锐化，全球水资源匮乏问题有望加剧。The conclusion adds to a growing body of research, and it comes days before this year's Climate Action 2016 summit in Washington, D.C. The re

3、port, titled “High and Dry: Climate Change, Water, and the Economy,” highlights the importance of water to human health, agriculture and geopolitical stability.【生词】summit峰会 agriculture农业 geopolitical地理政治学的【分析】句子的主干是The report highlights the importance of water to human health, agriculture and geopol

4、itical stability. titled “High and Dry: Climate Change, Water, and the Economy,”是后置定语修饰report。【翻译】这一结论是基于越来越多的研究，是在今年在华盛顿举行的2016年环境行动峰会的前几天提出的。这份的报告的主题是：“面临困境：气候变化，水资源和经济”强调了水对人类健康，农业和地理政治学的稳定。Water scarcity is expected to cost a swath of countries in regions such as sub-Saharan and northern Africa,

5、 the Middle East, and large parts of Asia roughly 6 percent of their gross domestic product, the report found. That's under a scenario in which emissions continue to be released as they are today.【生词】scenario 设想，预测 release释放【分析】句子的主干是Water scarcity is expected to cost a swath of countries in reg

6、ions and large parts of Asia roughly 6 percent of their gross domestic product。【翻译】报告发现，水资源匮乏有可能使一些在撒哈拉以南的非洲和北非，中东以及亚洲大部分的国家的国内生产总值大约下降6%。这一发现是基于废气排放与现在一样没有什么改变的设想。It's a stubborn problem, the report found. Even in a scenario where nations increase their water efficiency, northern Africa and the

7、 Middle East would still see 6 percent losses to their economy.【生词】stubborn 顽固的 efficiency效率【分析】句子的主干是：northern Africa and the Middle East would still see 6 percent losses to their economy.where nations increase their water efficiency,是定语从句修饰 a scenario 。【翻译】报告发现这是一个顽固的问题。即使各国提高它们的水资源利用率，北非和中东的经济也会下

8、降6%。“Water is to adaptation what energy is to mitigation, and the challenges the world will face in adapting to water issues are enormous,” the report said.【生词】adaptation适应 mitigation缓解【分析】这一句子由and连接的两个句子构成。第一个句子是句型A is to B what C is to D.表示“A之于B，就像C之于D”。 第二个句子主干是the challenges are enormous。 the wo

9、rld will face in adapting to water issues是定语从句修饰 challenges。【翻译】“改变之于适应与能量之于缓解是一样的，世界各国在适应水资源问题上面临的挑战是巨大的。”报告称。Richard Damania, a lead economist at the World Bank and an author of the report, told reporters, “Climate change is really about hydrological change, and it's really about water change.

10、”【生词】hydrological 水文学【翻译】理查德·德玛尼尔是世界银行杰出的经济学家和报告的作者，他对报告员说，“环境变化真的是水文学的变化，确实有关水变化。”It's a lot easier for governments to pull more water from the ground than to fix big infrastructure problems like leaky pipes, said Damania.【生词】infrastructure基础设施【翻译】德玛尼尔说，对政府而言，从地下开采水资源确实比维修破裂水管这样的严重 的基础设施问题

11、容易得多。“Of course the easy thing to do is to increase supply. The much harder stuff is the softer stuffincreasing efficiency, trying to reallocate water,” he added.【生词】reallocate 重新分配【翻译】他补充说：“当然增加供应量也是件容易的事。提高效率，试着重新分配水资源等软问题处理起来更加困难。”Water impacts reverberate far beyond the economy. Water shocks oft

12、en emerge as a threat multiplier, the report finds. Drought is often associated with migration and regime change, said Carl Bruch, an attorney and director of international programs at the Environmental Law Institute.【生词】reverberate产生广泛影响 regime 政权【翻译】由水资源引起的动荡远远超出了经济经济领域。报告发现，水问题往往会成为威胁产生的源头。环境法学院国

13、际项目的律师和国际计划部主任布鲁赫说，干旱经常伴随着移民和政权更迭的变化。“One thing we've found in context of water security and climate changeit really comes down to institutions and governance,” said Bruch. “Changes in water availability, timing, temperaturethese are stresses. And how well a country or community copes with those

14、 stresses depends substantially on governance.”【生词】temperature 气温 governance治理【翻译】布鲁赫说：“我们在水安全和气候变化的背景下发现的一件事，它确实归结于机构和治理方面，”。“水的可用性，时间，温度，这些都是重点。以及一个国家或社区如何应对这些压力很大程度上取决于治理的稳定性。” In broad terms, a country's ability to equitably allocate water and resolve disputes peacefully can mean survival an

15、d peace for its people, he said. On the flip side, if individuals use water scarcity as an opportunity to consolidate political power, or accuse others of stealing water, the result can be war.【生词】allocate分配 resolve dispute解决争端【翻译】从广义上讲，一个国家的公平分配水并和平解决争端可能意味着人们的生存和和平的能力，他说。另一方面，如果个人将水资源短缺作为一个巩固政治权力的

16、机会，或是指责别人的偷窃水，结果可能是战争。 “This is why you see in the Sahel region different responses to long-term drought. Some countries, like Sudan, undergo brutal civil war, while others have escaped it,” he said.【生词】undergo经历 brutal残酷的【翻译】“这就是为什么你看到在萨赫勒区域应对长期干旱的不同反应。一些国家，如苏丹，经历了残酷的内战，而其他国家却逃脱了，“他说。 EFFICIENCY CA

17、N SPARK FIGHTS效率可能导致战争In places like Sudan, where refugee camps have sprung up and morphed into populous, semi-permanent cities housing thousands of people, water is being drained at an unsustainable rate. Many of those encampments rely on limited sources like fossil aquifers, bringing their long-te

18、rm viability into question, Bruch said.【生词】morph变化 populous 稠密的 aquifer含水层【分析】句子的主干是water is being drained at an unsustainable rate.where refugee camps have sprung up and morphed into populous, semi-permanent cities housing thousands of people, 是定语修饰Sudan。【翻译】在苏丹，那里的难民营如雨后春笋般涌现，演变成稠密的、半永久性的城市拥有上千人，水

19、以不可持续的速度枯竭。许多营地依靠有限的资源如化石含水层，导致了对其长期生存能力的质疑，布鲁赫说。 Water poses big questions in established population centers, too. Many governments are unprepared for future water shortages.【生词】population人口【翻译】水在建立的人口中心构成了大问题。许多政府对未来的水资源短缺是毫无准备的。“Countries like Pakistan can only store about 30 daysworth of waterth

20、at's hugely inadequate when you look at climate change,” said David Michel, a nonresident fellow of the Environmental Security program at the Stimson Center, a nonprofit organization that works on U.S. security challenges.【生词】inadequate 不充足的【翻译】像巴基斯坦这样的国家只能储存约够30天用的水当发生气候变化是，这是远远不够的，”戴维·米歇尔

21、说，一位史汀生中心环境安全项目非常住工作人员，史汀生中心是一个非盈利性组织负责处理美国安全挑战。 Still, if countries manage to increase water efficiency and ease climate variability with increased storage, their action may also have negative consequences, said Michel. Any action on water may spark political friction, he said.【生词】variability变化 pol

22、itical friction政治摩擦【翻译】然而，如果国家设法提高水的效率和通过水的储存，缓解气候变化，他们的行动也可能会带来负面的后果，米歇尔说。他说，任何有关水资源的行动都可能引发政治摩擦。 Take the example of two farmers. One of them pumps his water from an underground aquifer next to an irrigation canal, and another draws his water from the canal. If you line the canal, increasing its e

23、fficiency and cutting down on leakage, you may be helping the second farmer to the detriment of the first.【生词】aquifer 蓄水层 leakage渗漏 detriment伤害【翻译】以两个农民为例。其中一人从灌溉渠旁边的地下蓄水层打水，另一个来从运河中打水。如果你连接运河，增加它的效率，减少渗漏，你可能会帮助了第二个农民却不利于第一个人。 “Because leakage from the canal might have been an important source of re

24、plenishing groundwater where it was leaking,” said Michel.【生词】replenish 补充，重新装满【翻译】“因为运河渗漏的水可能是补充地下水的一个重要来源，”米歇尔说。 That same principle can be applied on the scale of communities, and even countries.【翻译】同样的原则也适用于社区、甚至国家。 By increasing an upstream user's ability to store water, you potentially lessen water security for people downstream. If you have two water-scarce neighbors like India and P