新东方英语背诵美文50篇 第四十三篇 Obtaining Fresh water from icebergs
Obtaining Fresh water from icebergs
The concept of obtaining fresh water from icebergs that are towed to populated areas and arid regions of the world was once treated as a joke more appropriate to cartoons than real life. But now it is being considered quite seriously by many nations, especially since scientists have warned that the human race will outgrow its fresh water supply faster than it runs out of food.
Glaciers are a possible source of fresh water that has been overlooked until recently. Three-quarters of the Earth’s fresh water supply is still tied up in glacial ice, a reservoir of untapped fresh water so immense that it could sustain all the rivers of the world for 1,000 years. Floating on the oceans every year are 7,659 trillion metric tons of ice encased in 10000 icebergs that break away from the polar ice caps, more than ninety percent of them from Antarctica.
Huge glaciers that stretch over the shallow continental shelf give birth to icebergs throughout the year. Icebergs are not like sea ice, which is formed when the sea itself freezes, rather, they are formed entirely on land, breaking off when glaciers spread over the sea. As they drift away from the polar region, icebergs sometimes move mysteriously in a direction opposite to the wind, pulled by subsurface currents. Because they melt more slowly than smaller pieces of ice, icebergs have been known to drift as far north as 35 degrees south of the equator in the Atlantic Ocean. To corral them and steer them to parts of the world where they are needed would not be too difficult.
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新东方英语背诵美文50篇 | |
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第一篇 Youth 青春
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第二篇 Three Days to See(Excerpts) 假如给我三天光明
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第三篇 Companionship of Books 以书为伴
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第五篇 Ambition 抱负
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第四篇 If I Rest, I Rust 如果我休息,我就会生锈
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第六篇 What I have Lived for 我为何而生
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第七篇 When Love Beckons You 爱的召唤
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第八篇 The Road to Success 成功之道
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第九篇 On Meeting the Celebrated 论见名人
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第十篇 The 50-Percent Theory of Life 生活理论半对半