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1、ForWantofaDrinkWhenthewordwaterappearsinprintnowadays,crisisisrarelyfarbehind.Water,itissaid,isthenewoil:aresourcelongsquandered,nowgrowingexpensiveandsoontobeoverwhelmedbyinsatiabledemand.Aquifersarefalling,glaciersvanishing,reservoirsdryingupandriversnolongerflowingtothesea.Climatechange
2、threatenstomaketheproblemworse.Everyonemustuselesswateriffamine,pestilenceandmassmigrationarenottosweeptheglobe.2.Thelanguageisoftenoverblown,andtheremediessometimesill-conceived,butthebasicmessageisnotwrong.Waterisindeedscarceinmanyplaces,andwillgrowscarcer.Bringingsupplyanddemandintoequi
3、libriumwillbepainful,andpoliticaldisputesmayincreaseinnumberandintensifyintheircapacitytocausetrouble.Tocarryonwithpresentpracticewouldindeedbetoinvitedisaster.3.Why?Thedifficultiesstartwiththesheernumberofpeopleusingthestuff.When,60yearsago,theworld'spopulationwasabout2.5billion,worriesab
4、outwatersupplyaffectedrelativelyfewpeople.Bothdroughtandhungerexisted,astheyhavethroughouthistory,butmostpeoplecouldbefedwithoutirrigatedfarming.Thenthegreenrevolution,inaninspiredcombinationofnewcropbreeds,fertilizersandwater,madepossibleahugeriseinthepopulation.ThenumberofpeopleonEarthro
5、seto6billionin2000,nearly7billiontoday,andisheadingfor9billionin2050.Theareaunderirrigationhasdoubledandtheamountofwaterdrawnforfarminghastripled.Theproportionofpeoplelivingincountrieschronicallyshortofwaterissettorisefrom8%attheturnofthe21stcenturyto45%by2050.4.Farmers'increasingdemandfor
6、wateriscausednotonlybythegrowingnumberofmouthstobefedbutalsobypeople'sdesireforbetter-tasting,moreinterestingfood.Unfortunately,ittakesnearlytwiceasmuchwatertogrowakiloofpeanutsasakiloofsoybeans,nearlyfourtimesasmuchwatertoproduceakiloofbeefasakiloofchicken.With2billionpeoplearoundtheworld
7、abouttoenterthemiddleclass,theagriculturaldemandsonwaterwouldincreaseevenifthepopulationstoodstill.5.Industry,too,needswater.Ittakesabout22%oftheworld'swithdrawals.Domesticactivitiestaketheother8%.Together,thedemandsofthesetwocategoriesquadrupledinthesecondhal
