新奇事件簿 NASA:人类活动导致淡水重新分布

The USA's space agency NASA has confirmed that human activity is responsible for a massive redistribution of freshwater across Earth. It said the redistribution is continuing as populations shift and demand for food increases. In particular, equatorial regions were drying, while tropical areas and higher latitudes¹ were gaining water supplies. NASA warned that if this trend continued, many highly populated urban areas could struggle to find sufficient water in the future. NASA's claims are the result of a 14-year study into shifting locations and depleting² resources of freshwater. It was part of a mission conducted between 2002-2016 called GRACE, which is an acronym³ for Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment.

美国宇航局NASA已确证人类活动导致地球上淡水资源的大规模重新分布。NASA表示，随着人口流动和对食物需求的增加，淡水重新分布也在不断进行。尤其是赤道地区干涸，但热带地区和更高纬度地区的供水却在增加。NASA警告称，如果这种趋势持续，那么在未来很多人口稠密的城市会难以找到充足的水资源。NASA的主张源于一份为期14年研究的结果，其对流动地点和耗尽的淡水资源进行研究。这是在2002年至2016年间进行的一项名为GRACE任务的一部分， GRACE是重力场恢复和气候试验的首字母缩写。

Researchers say that the shifting freshwater patterns are the result of human activity. Jay Famiglietti, a co-author of the research and the Senior Water Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: "The study shows that humans have really drastically altered the global water landscape in a very profound way." He warned that: "The human fingerprint⁴ is all over changing freshwater availability. We see it in large-scale overuse of groundwater. We see it as a driver of climate change." Professor Famiglietti said at least 40 per cent of the 34 hot areas examined in the research were drier than two decades ago because of human activity, especially excessive groundwater pumping for farming.

研究人员表示淡水模式的转变是人类活动的结果。该研究的联合作者兼NASA喷气推进实验室高级水资源科学家杰伊.费明力表示“该研究表明人类以一种深层次的方式对地球水景观造成彻底地改变。”他警告道：“人类指纹完全改变了淡水的可利用度。我们在地下水大规模过度使用中看到了这种改变。我们将之视为气候变化的一种驱动。”费明力教授表示在对34个热区进行的调查中，至少有40%的区域比20年前更加干燥，这是人类活动造成的，特别是农业过度使用地下水。

1 latitudes   

纬度

参考例句：

• Latitudes are the lines that go from east to west. 纬线是从东到西的线。
• It was the brief Indian Summer of the high latitudes. 这是高纬度地方的那种短暂的晚秋。

2 depleting   

使大大的减少，使空虚( deplete的现在分词 )； 耗尽，使枯竭

参考例句：

• Regulations are outlawing certain refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons, which contain ozone-depleting chemicals. 随后出台的政策禁用了部分制冷剂，如破坏臭氧层的氟氯碳化合物。
• Aging, being a series of continual losses, can be keenly depleting. 老龄化，作为一个系列的连续亏损，可以清楚地消耗。

3 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

4 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。