International Wateryear

 

Broadcast: February 21, 2003
By George Grow

This is the VOA Special English Environment Report.

Everywhere, water use is increasing. Humans already use fifty-four percent of all the fresh water in rivers, lakes and underground. There are some estimates1 that this rate will reach seventy percent by two-thousand-twenty-five.

Fresh water is necessary for life on Earth. People need water for everyday activities and to produce food. Water also is important for energy2 production and the health of Earth's environmental systems.

The United Nations is organizing a series of events to increase concern about water issues. U-N officials have declared two-thousand-three the International Year of Fresh Water. A goal of the campaign is to build support for policies to use water more wisely. Another goal is to get more people to use water in ways that will not hurt the environment.

The world population is more than six-thousand-million people. More than one-thousand-million lack safe drinking water. More than two-thousand-million suffer from diseases¹ linked to dirty water. And, more than two-thousand-million live without waste-treatment systems.

Water was one of the issues discussed at the U-N Millennium² Summit³ two years ago. Leaders said they would work to cut the number of people without safe drinking water in half by two-thousand-fifteen. Officials renewed3 that goal last year at the Summit on Sustainable Development, in Johannesburg, South Africa. They also promised to cut in half the number of people without safe systems to treat waste by two-thousand-fifteen.

Nitin Desai directs the U-N Office for Economic and Social Affairs. He says success in these goals will require major changes in the ways people use water. He says water reforms have to be linked to changes in policies for land use, human settlement, agriculture, industry and energy.

Next month, the World Water Forum⁴ will meet in Kyoto, Japan. Officials plan to release⁵ the first U-N report on world water development. This report will examine the world's water problems. And it will offer suggestions on ways to meet future water demands. Experts say international reaction to the U-N report will be an important test of the political desire to solve the water crisis⁶.

There is a U-N Web site on water issues: w-w-w dot wateryear-two-thousand-three-dot o-r-g (www.wateryear2003.org).

This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by George Grow.

1. estimate [5estImeIt] n. 估计，评估
2. energy [5en[dVI] n. 精力，活力，[物] 能量
3. renewed [rI5nju:d] adj. 更新的，重建的

1 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

2 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

3 summit   

n.最高点，峰顶；最高级会议；极点

参考例句：

• They climbed up the mountain and reached the summit.他们爬山，最终达到了山顶。
• The summit of the mountain is lost in the cloud and mist.山顶隐没在云雾之中。

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

6 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。