UN Says One in Four Do Not Have Safe Drinking Water
2023-03-23
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The United Nations said 26 percent of the world's population does not have safe drinking water in a report released Tuesday.
2The U.N. World Water Development Report 2023's release comes at the start of a three-day meeting on water resources and usage in New York City.
3Richard Connor is the main editor of the report.
4He told reporters at the release that the estimated cost of meeting the U.N.'s goals for water is between $600 billion and $1 trillion.
5Connor said it was just as important to develop partnerships with investors, financiers, governments and climate change groups.
6These forms of cooperation, Connor said, would ensure that the money spent would provide drinkable water to 2 billion people who do not have it and sanitation to 3.6 billion who lack it.
7The report warns that water use around the world is growing one percent a year "and is expected to grow at a similar rate to 2050..."
8Connor said the increase in demand is happening in developing countries and emerging economies.
9That is because urban areas and industries are using more water.
10Agriculture alone, Connor said, uses 70 percent of the world's water supply and has to be better planned.
11The report also said that seasonal lack of water will increase in Central Africa, East Asia and parts of South America.
12That is in addition to areas that already have water scarcity such as the Middle East and the Sahara area of Africa.
13The report said this is the result of temperature increases in the Earth's atmosphere.
14The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is responsible for the latest water report.
15It said, on average, "10 percent of the global population lives in countries with high or critical water stress."
16And 3.5 billion people live under conditions of water stress at least one month out of the year.
17The report also commented on weather events.
18It said floods in tropical areas near the Equator have increased by 2.5 times.
19But Connor said weather conditions involving lack of rain, or drought, were more difficult to establish.
20He said, "...an increase in intensity or frequency of droughts and 'heat extremes' can be expected in most regions as a direct result of climate change."
21Connor added that the biggest producer of pollution is untreated wastewater.
22He said 80 percent of wastewater around the world is untreated.
23But in developing countries, it is "pretty much 99 percent."
24An estimated 171 countries and 100 ministers are attending the three-day meeting.
25I'm Mario Ritter Jr.
1The United Nations said 26 percent of the world's population does not have safe drinking water in a report released Tuesday. 2The U.N. World Water Development Report 2023's release comes at the start of a three-day meeting on water resources and usage in New York City. 3Richard Connor is the main editor of the report. He told reporters at the release that the estimated cost of meeting the U.N.'s goals for water is between $600 billion and $1 trillion. 4Connor said it was just as important to develop partnerships with investors, financiers, governments and climate change groups. These forms of cooperation, Connor said, would ensure that the money spent would provide drinkable water to 2 billion people who do not have it and sanitation to 3.6 billion who lack it. 5The report warns that water use around the world is growing one percent a year "and is expected to grow at a similar rate to 2050..." 6Connor said the increase in demand is happening in developing countries and emerging economies. That is because urban areas and industries are using more water. 7Agriculture alone, Connor said, uses 70 percent of the world's water supply and has to be better planned. 8The report also said that seasonal lack of water will increase in Central Africa, East Asia and parts of South America. That is in addition to areas that already have water scarcity such as the Middle East and the Sahara area of Africa. The report said this is the result of temperature increases in the Earth's atmosphere. 9The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is responsible for the latest water report. It said, on average, "10 percent of the global population lives in countries with high or critical water stress." And 3.5 billion people live under conditions of water stress at least one month out of the year. 10The report also commented on weather events. It said floods in tropical areas near the Equator have increased by 2.5 times. But Connor said weather conditions involving lack of rain, or drought, were more difficult to establish. He said, "...an increase in intensity or frequency of droughts and 'heat extremes' can be expected in most regions as a direct result of climate change." 11Connor added that the biggest producer of pollution is untreated wastewater. He said 80 percent of wastewater around the world is untreated. But in developing countries, it is "pretty much 99 percent." 12An estimated 171 countries and 100 ministers are attending the three-day meeting. 13I'm Mario Ritter Jr. 14Edith Lederer reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. 15__________________________________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17editor -n. a person who decides what parts of a written work are published or changed 18sanitation -n. the activity of removing, treating or dealing with wastewater and solid waste in a healthy and acceptable way 19scarcity -n. the condition of not having enough of something 20stress -n. a state of tension often caused by the apparent lack of something or inability to understand something 21frequency -n. how often something happens 22___________________________________________________________________ 23How is the water where you live? We want to hear from you. 24Here is how our comment system works: 25Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.