环境
沙特阿拉伯:借石油暴富,因污水死亡?
2019-01-25
今日导读
沙特阿拉伯是名副其实的“石油王国”。石油给沙特带来了无尽的财富、增长的人口和快速的发展。但干旱的气候同时也加剧了其对淡水的渴望。作为世界上最大的淡化海水生产国,沙特的海水淡化量超过了世界总量的五分之一,淡化水成为该国 70% 的饮用水来源。然而,在这项海水淡化工程惊艳世界、造福沙特的同时,大量的海水淡化副产品——毒废水越来越成为不容忽视的隐患。让我们跟 Lala 老师一起深入了解一下。
带着问题听讲解
Q1: 什么是海水淡化?
Q2: toxic 是什么意思?
Q3: 毒废水会对生态造成怎样的影响?
新闻正文
Saudi thirst for water is creating a toxic brine problem
沙特海水淡化工业引发了毒盐水问题
Saudi Arabia isn’t just the world’s top crude oil exporter. It’s also the biggest producer of a toxic effluent that’s the byproduct of slaking the desert kingdom’s thirst for water.
沙特阿拉伯不仅是世界上最大的原油出口国,也是最大的有毒废水制造国。沙特阿拉伯是一座沙漠王国,而这些废水是其解决缺水问题时产生的“副产品”。
United Nations scientists warned that desalination is creating huge volumes of chemical-laced brine that risks contaminating food chains if left untreated. The problem is most acute in the Middle East and North Africa, which account for two-thirds of the world’s water contaminated by energy-intensive desalination plants.
联合国科学家警告说,海水淡化会产生大量带有化学物质的盐水,如果不加以处理,这种盐水就可能有污染食物链的风险。这个问题在中东和北非最为严重。全世界来源于能源密集型海水淡化工厂的污水中,有三分之二来自中东和北非。
Desalination is an industrial process that uses heat and pressure to make seawater fit for human consumption. For every liter of potable water produced, the UN estimates about 1.5 liters of liquid polluted with chlorine and copper are created. When pumped back into the ocean, the toxic brine depletes oxygen and impacts organisms along the food chain.
海水淡化是一种利用热量和压强使海水变得适合人类饮用的工业流程。据联合国估计,每生产一升饮用水,就会产生约 1.5 升被氯和铜污染的液体。当这些有毒浓盐水被泵回海洋,会消耗海水中的氧气,并影响食物链上的生物。
Saudi Arabia’s desalination plants produce about 31.5 million cubic meters of contaminated water each day. That volume of liquid is equivalent to about 20 million barrels of oil a day, or, double the amount of crude it currently produces. The Kingdom is tendering seven desalination projects as it tries to alleviate the impacts of depleted aquifers.
沙特阿拉伯的海水淡化工厂每天都会产生约 3150 万立方米的污水。这个体积的液体相当于约 2000 万桶石油,或者沙特阿拉伯目前每日开采的原油量的两倍。为了减轻枯竭的地下蓄水层带来的影响,沙特阿拉伯还在提议七个海水淡化项目。
Other countries have successfully used the brine to cultivate forage shrubs, though at the cost of land salinization. “There is a need to translate such research and convert an environmental problem into an economic opportunity,” said Manzoor Qadir, the UN institute’s assistant director. “This is particularly important in countries producing large volumes of brine with relatively low efficiencies, such as Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Kuwait and Qatar.”
其他国家已成功利用盐水种植了饲用灌木,虽然这么做是以土地盐碱化为代价的。联合国机构的助理主管满祖尔·卡迪尔说道:“我们需要去实践这种研究,并把现存的环境问题转化为商机。对于因较低能效产生大量浓盐水的国家,比如沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋、科威特和卡塔尔,这种做法尤为重要。”
————— 文章来源 / 彭博社
重点词汇
toxic/ˈtɑːksɪk/
adj. 有毒的;引起中毒的
e.g.
搭配短语:toxic gases
brine/braɪn/
n. (用于腌制食物的)盐水
e.g.
搭配短语:olives in brine
crude/kruːd/
adj./n. 未加工的;原油
e.g.
搭配短语:crude metal
effluent /ˈefluənt/
n. 废水,污水
byproduct/ˈbaɪprɑːdʌkt/
n. 副产品;不好的后果
e.g.
英文释义:A substance that is produced during the process of making something else.
例句: When burnt, plastic produces dangerous byproducts.
英文释义:A thing that happens, often unexpectedly, as the result of something else.
例句: One of the byproducts of unemployment is an increase in crime.
slake one’s thirst
解渴
e.g.
slake 英文释义:to satisfy a feeling of being thirsty or of wanting something
搭配短语:slake your thirst with a drink
desalination/ˌdiːˌsælɪˈneɪʃn/
n. 海水淡化
e.g.
例句:The country desalinates sea water to produce fresh water for drinking. (v.)
lace/leɪs/
v. 带有,掺有
e.g.
英文释义:together with
搭配短语:chemical-laced waters
contaminate/kənˈtæmɪneɪt/
v. 污染;弄脏
e.g.
例句:Much of the coast has been contaminated by nuclear waste.
词义辨析
contaminate, pollute
contaminate:to make something less pure or make it poisonous
pollute:to make an area harmful to people, especially by adding harmful chemicals
if left untreated
如若不处理/不治疗
e.g.
搭配短语:effluent treatment
例句:It can lead to death if left untreated.
acute/əˈkjuːt/
adj. 十分严重的;剧烈的
e.g.
例句:She felt acute embarrassment.
搭配短语:acute stomach pains
potable/ˈpoʊtəbl/
adj. 适宜饮用的
e.g.
英文释义:clean and safe to drink
搭配短语:drinking water = potable water
chlorine/ˈklɔːriːn/
n. 氯,氯气
e.g.
搭配短语:the chlorine in the swimming pool
copper/ˈkɑːpər/
n. 铜
deplete/dɪˈpliːt/
v. 消耗;耗费(资源、金钱、精力等)
e.g.
搭配短语:deplete the earth's natural resources
例句:The illness depletes your energy.
cubic meter
立方米
e.g.
相关词汇:cube
搭配短语:cubic centimeter
barrel/ˈbærəl/
n. 桶(石油计量单位,相当于 120 到 159 升)
e.g.
例句:Oil prices fell to $9 a barrel.
tender/ˈtendər/
v. 提议,提出
e.g.
例句:She tendered a proposal.
alleviate/əˈliːvieɪt/
v. 减轻;缓和
e.g.
近义词:ease
搭配短语:to alleviate suffering
搭配短语:to alleviate the problem
aquifer/ˈækwɪfər/
n. (岩石或土壤的)含水层,蓄水层
forage shrub
饲料用的灌木,灌木类饲草
e.g.
搭配短语:forage grass
land salinization
土地盐碱化,土地盐渍化
拓展内容
海水淡化
海水淡化指的是从海水中提取淡水的过程。这其实并不是一个新鲜的名词——从古代开始,人们就开始尝试从海水中除去盐分。400 多年前,英国王室还曾悬赏征求经济实惠的海水淡化方法。现代意义上的海水淡化起始于二战之后。石油给战后的中东地区带来了快速的经济发展和人口增长,也使得原本就干旱的中东对淡水资源的需求更加迫切。海水淡化自然成为了解决当地淡水资源匮乏的现实选择。至今,全球每天的海水淡化产量为 3500 万立方米左右,其中的 80% 用于饮用水,解决了 1 亿多人的供水问题。
在庞大淡水产量的背后,环境问题也日益凸显。虽然短期内获得了淡水,但由于目前海水淡化废水的回收率还不高,浓缩后的高浓度海水混合着化学药剂排放至海洋,给海洋环境和海洋生物带来严重威胁。高温废水带来的热污染也对海洋生物的生长与繁殖造成破坏。
“石油”和“原油”的区别
“石油”与“原油”两个词常常被提及。比如,“沙特号称‘石油王国’”或是“挪威的原油产量下降”。其实,“石油”是一个概念化的统称,可以指任何阶段和状态的石油及其产品。而“原油”一词要放在石油的加工炼制过程中来理解,它指从油田开采出来的,未经任何处理和加工的石油。各种燃料油、溶剂油、润滑剂、润滑脂、石蜡、沥青以及液化气、芳烃等,都是原油经过加工后产生的产品。