VOA新闻杂志2022--伊拉克萨瓦湖干涸表明水资源短缺加剧

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Iraq’s Lake Sawa Dries Up Signaling Water Shortage

This year, for the first time in its long history, Iraq's Lake Sawa dried up.

"This lake was known as the pearl of the south," said 35-year-old al-Aqouli, who lives in Samawa, near the lake. "Now it is our tragedy."

A combination of bad ownership by local investors¹, government neglect and climate change has turned Lake Sawa into a salty, flat area.

The loss of Lake Sawa is only the latest addition to Iraq's water shortage. Experts say it is caused by climate change. Iraq has had drought and record low rainfall for years. The importance of water is driving up competition among businessmen and farmers. The poorest Iraqis are affected² the most by the disaster.

The narrow stretch of farmland along the Euphrates River is surrounded by desert. The area was ignored by the government starting in the 1980s.

Locals call the area surrounding Lake Sawa "atshan" — meaning "thirsty" in Arabic.

Formed over rock, the lake has no path for water to move in or out. For a long time, nobody knew where the Lake's water came from. Locals tell stories about how the water came to be in the lake.

It is now known that the water comes from underground through a system of holes and breaks in rock. Rain from nearby valleys also feeds into the lake. Lots of rain can cause flooding.

The lake sits five meters above sea level. It is about 1.8 kilometers long.

Laith Ali al-Obeidi is an environmental activist³ in southern Iraq. "The degradation⁴ of the water began over 10 years ago, but this summer was the first time we lost the entire wetland," he said.

Experts said the lake has not dried up permanently⁵. They say its disappearance⁶ this year is because of thousands of illegal wells. Businessmen in nearby factories dig the wells because they cannot get enough water.

Some water began to come back into the lake by early June. That was when the harvest season ended, meaning farmers did not need as much water.

Aoun Diab is an adviser⁷ to the Water Resources Ministry⁸. He said that closing illegal wells would have helped heal Lake Sawa. These would directly affect the economic interests of local officials.

The problem is not only affecting humans, but other animals as well. Lake Sawa is a complex ecosystem⁹.

Sawa was filled with fish that were food for different kinds of birds. When the lake dried up, the fish died. Now the birds will have to find other food.

Lake Sawa is "a case study for climate change in Iraq," al-Obeidi said. "This is the future."

Words in This Story

pearl – n. someone or something that is very good or admired

neglect – v. to fail to take care of or to give attention to someone or something

thirst – n. an uncomfortable feeling that is caused by the need for something to drink

degrade – v. to make the quality of something worse

wetland – n. an area of land such as a marsh¹⁰ or swamp that is covered with shallow water

ecosystem – n. everything that exists in a particular environment

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

5 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

6 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

10 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。