 Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians are hoping that world leaders gathered on the shores of the Dead Sea this weekend will back their efforts to help save the lowest body of water on Earth.
Over the past three years the Dead Sea has decreased by three meters and the whole area is currently one third less than it used to be in the 1960s due to the diversion of the Jordan River water for irrigation, experts said. A goldmine for potash extractors and a magnet for tourists who come to bathe in its salty waters, the Dead Sea could disappear in 50 years. "The Dead Sea basin is facing an environmental decline and if it continues like this it will hit a catastrophe," Jordanian Water Minister Hazem Nasser cautioned. To contain the damage, Jordanian, Israeli and Palestinian officials will submit a project to channel water through a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, at the weekend meeting here of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Nasser warned saving the mineral-rich Dead Sea was a large-scale project that would not just happen overnight. "It needs a lot of studies and preparation and huge financial resources," he said. "We have to do a series of studies first: environmental, social, technical. We did a pre-feasibility study and we are now shooting for a full feasibility study." The project, which the sides hope to fund through the World Bank and the private sector, is estimated to cost 1.5 billion dollars.
(Agencies) | 約旦、以色列和巴勒斯坦希望本周末齊聚死海海岸參加世界經濟論壇的各國領導人能夠對他們的計劃提供支持：拯救死海--這個地球的最低點。 專家稱，在過去三年中，死海的水位已經下降了3米。由于約旦河的水源被改道以為灌溉所用，無法注入死海，因此同60年代相比，目前整個死海水域的水量已經不足原先的三分之一。 死海海水中蘊含大量碳酸鉀；同時還是旅游勝地，吸引眾多游客來此泡鹽水浴。但是照此發展下去，未來50年內死海將會永遠消失。 約旦水利部長那瑟警告說："死海正面臨環境惡化。如果繼續照此發展下去的話，災難就會降臨，死海將會消失。"
為了化解危機，環繞死海的三個國家：約旦、以色列和巴勒斯坦的官員們將會在本周末的世界經濟論壇上提交一份計劃，啟動從紅海通過運河往死海注水的工程。 那瑟說，此項拯救死海（這片礦藏豐富的海域）的計劃是一項大規模的工程，不會在朝夕之間一蹴而就。 他說："我們必須首先做一系列研究工作：環境的、社會的、技術的。我們已經做過一個前期的可行性研究，現在我們正在努力進行一項全面的可行性研究。" 約旦、以色列和巴勒斯坦三方都希望這項計劃的實施能夠從世界銀行和私營行業中獲得基金，預計將高達15億美元。 譯者注：
死海是位于巴勒斯坦、以色列和約旦之間的一片美麗而又神奇的水域，是一個內陸鹽湖。因湖水中鹽分極高、生物無法在里面生存而得名。死海的水面是地球上陸地的最低點，水面平均低于海平面約400米，因此死海還有"地球肚臍"的別稱。約旦河從其北部注入。
(中國日報網站譯) |
Updated: 2003-06-24 01:00
