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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky. Got a few minutes? Today we have a special edition featuring a brief interview with Sciam editor, Steve Ashley.

 

Steve Ashley, a lot of people are very concerned about oil right now, but out there, in the distance there is this looming1 water issue. And I mean that in both senses, we have the looming August issue of Scientific American, and we also have a big water package on the web, tell us about that.

 

That’s right, Steve. We have been working on the coming water crisis and covering in many different ways. Basically, water, which everyone takes for granted, is becoming more and more rare, fresh water, especially, water that you can drink, potable water. And as the population grows, and people demand more water as their incomes increase. It looks like we are goanna have a dearth2 of water, and it's gonna get worse and worse for the next couple of decades. Looks like we have to spend a lot of money to secure enough water that we can supply for all the people in the world.

 

Now on the face of it, it seems more a policy issue than a science issue, so how does the science informed the policy?

 

Well, the science is fairy well-known, but it comes down to applying it and applying it quickly. Basically the technology that's necessary is been developed over the years, but people have not been using it. And…

 

Are we talking about recovering or desalination3?  What are we talking about?

 

We are talking about a whole raft of steps that need to be taken. Basically, our author for the article that we wrote for the magazine,Peter Rogger, suggests six steps, we'll say. What it comes down to is couple of things that you just wouldn't think of. First of all, we spend tremendous amount of water irrigating  crops. And just getting the water to the fields, you'll lose a tremendous amount. So anything you can do to save that water will have a tremendous effect because it turns out that the biggest single use of water, fresh water, is crop irrigation. Secondly4, one of the other problems is that, it's sort of a social not to technological5 issue as much but a social issue. Water is basically free in most countries. If you do not pay for a resources, you do not save it. A third issue is basically a sort of an odd concept, is something of an accounting6 issue, actually it's called virtual water. That is the water content of the products that we buy, basically the water for the crops that we grow or the water was used in factories to make a product. And if instead of sending water to a dry, arid7 place, you send them the products that contain this "virtual water" and what that does is that it means they can get along without using their own water for creating these products, so that is another issue that could help greatly. For example, the Middle East Jordan, Israel, those countries. They all take their water from the Jordan River, and by shipping8 Jordan virtual water in terms of products. They do not have to extract so much water from the river, so that's another big issue. A fourth step that Peter Rogger suggests is to adopt what they call "low water sanitation9". We use a tremendous amount of water just to get human wastes out of the home. Basically by collecting faeces and the urines, separating them and then recycling for farm fertilization. One can save tremendous amounts of water and help the agriculture at the same time.

 

And a lot of people, I mean this's a minor10 point in the whole thing, but I think it's gonna have to be a cultural adaptation to the idea of not flushing the toilet every time you use it.

 

Well you know you heard if it's yellow. It's mellow11.


I don't know. Hates celera.


We won't get into that.

 Right, but that is a practice that can cut your flushes by maybe 80%.

 Tremendous savings12. And it just goes down the drain.

 Literally13. Literally speaking. So what is on the website right now that is part of the overall water package that people can access just sitting right at the computer.

 Well, basically we have the article. We have the graphics14 from the article from very interesting maps that show what, potentially, will happen with climate change as incomes increase. We have a slide show of photos, interesting photos that basically depict15 some of the problems with the dearth of water, the water crisis and some of the solutions, some of which I've mentioned already. We have a list of... well we have a quiz, which is kind of fun, what you know about saving water and turns out I didn't know too much about saving water and I find it fairly eye-opening. So I think our readers and web people will actually find it of interest. We have a list of ways to save water and it basically comes down to paying attention. You know little things like turning off the water as you're washing the dishes in between each dish saves a tremendous amounts of water.

 When you are shaving, between the strokes you do not have to have the water run.

When you are shaving, I mean you know, and you know although it sounds a little idealistic. Every little step that made by a huge group of people will actually have an impact on the big problem.

And over the next couple of decades, this is really going to become a major worldwide issue.

First the people in the desert areas will find it happening to them. People in Las Vegas, for example, are gonna to find it's gonna get more and more difficult. They gonna have to like not water their lawns, they're gonna have water restrictions16 on washing their cars, things with that nature. Then depending on how climate change works as the, for example, India and China grow, you know, in terms of their income, they're gonna be demanding tremendous amounts of water right now under both those places the water tables are dropping. So they are gonna have huge restrictions in for those giant population who knows how that's gonna work out. Basically, almost everyone is gonna  be faced with this at one point or another.

For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky.


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1 looming 1060bc05c0969cf209c57545a22ee156     
n.上现蜃景(光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼)v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近
参考例句:
  • The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看,在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
2 dearth dYOzS     
n.缺乏,粮食不足,饥谨
参考例句:
  • There is a dearth of good children's plays.目前缺少优秀的儿童剧。
  • Many people in that country died because of dearth of food.那个国家有许多人因为缺少粮食而死。
3 desalination xwNxL     
n.脱盐(作用)
参考例句:
  • Crops can be grown on this land after desalination. 这片土地经过脱盐就可以种植庄稼了。
  • One source is by desalination-taking the salt out of salt water to make it drinkable. 淡水的来源之一是使水淡化--把含盐的水中的盐份去掉,使之能够饮用。
4 secondly cjazXx     
adv.第二,其次
参考例句:
  • Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二,动脑筋提出自己的见解。
  • Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次,需要确定所作用的载荷。
5 technological gqiwY     
adj.技术的;工艺的
参考例句:
  • A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
  • Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今, 随着科技进步,生活节奏不断增快。
6 accounting nzSzsY     
n.会计,会计学,借贷对照表
参考例句:
  • A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
  • There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。
7 arid JejyB     
adj.干旱的;(土地)贫瘠的
参考例句:
  • These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
  • There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
8 shipping WESyg     
n.船运(发货,运输,乘船)
参考例句:
  • We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
  • There's a shipping charge of £5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。
9 sanitation GYgxE     
n.公共卫生,环境卫生,卫生设备
参考例句:
  • The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看,这个地段非常糟糕。
  • Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。
10 minor e7fzR     
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修
参考例句:
  • The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
  • I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。
11 mellow F2iyP     
adj.柔和的;熟透的;v.变柔和;(使)成熟
参考例句:
  • These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节,苹果就熟透了。
  • The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时,色彩变得柔和了。
12 savings ZjbzGu     
n.存款,储蓄
参考例句:
  • I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假,那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
  • By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时,他的存款已全部用完。
13 literally 28Wzv     
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实
参考例句:
  • He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
  • Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候,她不走到真正要昏厥了,决不肯坐下来。
14 graphics CrxzuL     
n.制图法,制图学;图形显示
参考例句:
  • You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
  • Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。
15 depict Wmdz5     
vt.描画,描绘;描写,描述
参考例句:
  • I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
  • Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。
16 restrictions 81e12dac658cfd4c590486dd6f7523cf     
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则)
参考例句:
  • I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
  • a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

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