Fresh water life itself, has never come easy in the Middle East. Ever since the Old Testament(旧约圣经) God punished man with 40 days and 40 nights of rain, water supplies here have been dwindling. The rainfall only comes in winter, Inshallah Good willing and drains quickly through the semiarid land, leaving the soil to bake and to thirst for next November.
The regions accelerating population, expanding agriculture, industrialization, and higher living standards demand more fresh water. Drought and pollution limit its availability. War and mismanagement squander it. Says Joyce Starr of the Global Water Summit Initiative, based in Washington, D.C. Nations like Israel and Jordan are swiftly sliding into that zone where they are suing all the water resources available to them. They have only 15 to 20 years left before their agriculture, and ultimately their food security, is threatened.
I came here to examine this crisis in the making, to investigate fears that water wars are imminent, that water has replaced oil as the regions most contentious commodity. For more than two months I traveled through three river valleys and seven nations from southern Turkey down the Euphrates River Syria, Iraq, and on to Kuwait; to Israel and Jordan, neighbors across the valley of the Jordan; to the timeless Egyptian Nile.
Even amid the scarcity there are haves and have notes. Compared with the United States, which in 1990 had a freshwater potential of 10000 cubic meters(2.6 million galloons) a year for each citizen, Iraq had 5 500, Turkey had 4 000, and Syria had more than 2 800. Egypts potential was only 1 100. Israel had 460, Jordan a meager 260. But these are not firm figures, because upstream use of river water can dramatically alter the potential downstream.
Scarcity is only one element of the crisis. Inefficiency is another, as is the reluctance of some water poor nations to change priorities from agriculture to less water intensive enterprises. Some experts suggest that if nations would share both water technology and resources, they could satisfy the regions population, currently 159 million. But in this patchwork of ethnic and religious rivalries, water seldom stands alone as an issue. It is entangled in the politics that keep people from trusting and seeking help from one another. Here, where water, like truth, is precious, each nation tends to find its own water and supply its own truth.
As Israeli hydrology professor Uri Shamir told me : If there is political will for peace, water will not be a hindrance. If you want reasons to fight, water will not e a hindrance. If you want reasons to fight, water will give you ample opportunities.
英语四六级听力真题训练六步法
四级听力60个必考习语详解(2)
雅思听力高分技巧
四级听力60个必考习语详解(5)
四级听力60个必考习语详解(9)
如何应对四级听力考试中的复合式听写
英语四级六级攻略:四大听力瓶颈如何解决?
雅思听力提分小技巧:立体训练
托福听力技巧:熟悉连读方式 破解托福听力
2012年12月英语四级听力选择题解题技巧
怎样做到雅思听力满分:满分考生备考经验谈
雅思听力备考:加强语感和词汇的练习
四级听力完美训练方法论
英语听力经验谈:听力水平提高技巧
高考听力备考策略
四级听力60个必考习语详解(3)
雅思听力技巧:熟悉留学生活场景
烤鸭们的福音:雅思听力有章可循
2012年12月英语六级听力正确答案的特征
征服雅思听力考试的五大秘诀
英语六级考试听力冲刺策略
托福听力经验谈:课外阅读不可少
雅思听力技巧:五点注意帮你破解雅思听力陷阱
雅思听力技巧:掌握冷门知识点 拿雅思听力高分
雅思听力应注意前后关联
2012年12月四级听力重点高频词大集合
英语面试口语:关于秘书职务
四级听力60个必考习语详解(4)
四级听力60个必考习语详解(1)
英语四六级听力冲刺:不可小看的7类小词
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |