◎ 胡立宗

There is probably a place for desalted seawater in meeting future U.S. water needs, but research is needed to reduce the costs and impact on the environment, the National Research Council says.

淡化的海水，或許有可能在滿足美國未來用水需求上取得一席之地，但仍有待進一步研究，以降低成本及對環境的衝擊，國家研究委員會表示。

In a report released recently, the NRC said that improving technology is making it more realistic to consider desalination of water.

在近期公布的報告中，國研會說，技術的改良，使得採用海水淡化越來越具可行性。

Some 97 percent of the water on Earth – seawater and brackish groundwater – is too salty for drinking or irrigation.

全球大概97%的水—海水和帶鹽地下水—鹽分太重，無法飲用或灌溉。

"Uncertainties about desalination’s environmental impacts are currently a significant barrier to its wider use, and research on these effects – and ways to lessen them – should be the top priority," said Amy K. Zander, chair of the committee that wrote the report .

「海水淡化對環境衝擊的不確定性，是目前在推廣應用上的明顯障礙；有關其對環境影響以及如何降低影響的研究，應列為優先課題，」國研會主席、報告撰稿人艾咪．桑德說。

"Finding ways to lower costs should also be an objective. A coordinated research effort dedicated to these goals could make desalination a more practical option for some communities facing water shortages," Zander said in a statement.

「找出降低成本的方法，應該也是目標。針對這些目標的整合研究，應可讓海水淡化成為缺水社區一個更可行選項，」桑德在聲明中表示。

新聞辭典

desalinization：名詞，去鹽、去鹽作用；一般稱為（海水）淡化。動詞為desalt或desalinize（除去鹽分）。

brackish：形容詞，微鹹的、有鹽味的。

objective：名詞，目的、目標。Our objective is to win this game.（我們的目標就是要贏這場比賽。）