But for the people who live here, the most critical resource is water.

但對於生活在這裡的人們來說，最關鍵的資源是水。

To some geographers, the map of the world's precipitation is the most important map for understanding life on Earth. And nowhere is this more true than in the Middle East and North Africa, or MENA, which includes vast deserts like the Sahara. With maps of precipitation and available water on the Earth's surface, we can think about why people are clustered where they are, and the conflicts water can create. While controlling surface water, like lakes and rivers, gets a lot of attention, there's an invisible source of water creating tensions and challenges, too. In fact, groundwater stored in the ground supplies nearly half the world's drinking water.

對一些地理學家來說，世界降水地圖是瞭解地球生命的最重要地圖。這一點在中東和北非地區（MENA）體現得淋漓盡致，那裡有撒哈拉等廣袤的沙漠。有了地球表面的降水量和可用水量地圖，我們就能思考為什麼人類會聚集在這裡，以及水可能造成的衝突。雖然湖泊和河流等地表水的控制備受關注，但還有一種看不見的水源也在製造緊張局勢和挑戰。事實上，儲存在地下的地下水供應著全球近一半的飲用水。

And in the Middle East and North Africa, an estimated 90% of freshwater, whether in rivers or underground aquifers, crosses one or more international borders, involves multiple stakeholders and political conflicts, and is embedded in a complicated physical geography.

而在中東和北非，估計有 90% 的淡水（無論是河流還是地下蓄水層）跨越一個或多個國際邊界，涉及多個利益相關方和政治衝突，並蘊含在複雜的自然地理環境中。

All of which make managing water, especially water we can't see, an extraordinary challenge.

所有這些都使得水資源管理，尤其是我們看不見的水資源管理，成為一項非同尋常的挑戰。

I'm Alizé Carrère and this is Crash Course Geography.

我是 Alizé Carrère，這裡是地理速成班。

INTRO

導言

Over the last two episodes, we've been exploring water and the different ways we're connected to it. And in this final water episode, we'll tell one more part of water's story. Like rivers on the surface that unite and divide us, whether we use groundwater to control others or choose to share can shape our path to peace. In fact, only about 2.8% of all the water on Earth is freshwater, or water that doesn't contain a lot of salt that we can use for drinking and growing things.

在過去的兩期節目中，我們一直在探索水以及我們與水之間的不同聯繫。在這最後一集裡，我們將講述水的故事的另一部分。就像地表的河流將我們聯繫在一起又將我們分開一樣，我們是利用地下水來控制他人還是選擇與他人分享，都會影響我們的和平之路。事實上，地球上只有約 2.8% 的水是淡水，即不含大量鹽分的水，我們可以用它來飲用和種植植物。

All the other water on Earth is saltwater in the oceans. Of that freshwater, over two-thirds of it is locked up in ice sheets and glaciers, and a tiny amount is found in rivers and lakes.

地球上所有其他的水都是海洋中的鹹水。在淡水中，三分之二以上被冰原和冰川鎖住，只有極少量存在於河流和湖泊中。

The rest lies beneath Earth's surface. So groundwater makes up a little more than half of a percent of all the water on Earth, yet it's the largest potential source of freshwater we've got in the entire hydrological cycle that moves water between the four Earth systems.

其餘的則位於地球表面之下。是以，地下水只佔地球總水量的一半多一點，但它卻是整個水文循環中最大的潛在淡水來源。

Looking at a map of groundwater use, we'd see that's not such a great thing for large parts of the Middle East and North Africa, which is the most water-scarce region in the world.

看看地下水使用地圖，我們就會發現，這對中東和北非的大部分地區來說並不是一件好事，因為那裡是世界上最缺水的地區。

Several countries have a groundwater stress rate of more than 100%, which means we're using up the groundwater resources faster than they can be refilled or recharged. You see, groundwater is the part of the hydrosphere stored within the lithosphere.

有幾個國家的地下水壓力率超過了 100%，這意味著我們耗盡地下水資源的速度超過了地下水的補給速度。要知道，地下水是儲存在岩石圈中的水圈部分。

But it's still connected to the other spheres on and above the surface. Precipitation that absorbs into the ground before reaching a river can recharge aquifers and other underground reservoirs.

但它仍然與地表和地表以上的其他球體相連。降水在匯入河流之前會被地面吸收，從而為地下蓄水層和其他地下水庫提供補給。

So groundwater isn't an independent source of water, like we saw last time in Jakarta.

是以，地下水並不是獨立的水源，就像我們上次在雅加達看到的那樣。

And this connection between groundwater and precipitation is specifically an issue because the Middle East and North Africa sits under a subtropical high-pressure belt.

由於中東和北非地處副熱帶高壓帶之下，地下水與降水之間的這種聯繫就成為一個具體問題。

Which means very little rain falls, and the main way we'd describe the climate is arid, or dry.

這意味著降雨量極少，我們形容這裡的氣候主要是乾旱或乾燥。

There can even be a moisture deficit, which is when the amount of moisture that evaporates is more than returns as precipitation.

甚至會出現水分虧缺，即蒸發的水分比降水返回的水分多。

When it does rain, any extra water that absorbs into the ground moves through a zone of aeration, where the rocks and soil aren't fully saturated, and there's both air and water.

下雨時，吸收到地下的多餘水分會流經通氣區，這裡的岩石和土壤尚未完全飽和，既有空氣又有水。

As gravity pulls it deeper, the water eventually reaches the zone of saturation, which is the layer where every space in the bedrock, regolith, and soil are filled with water.

隨著地心引力的作用，水最終到達飽和層，也就是基岩、碎屑岩和土壤的每一個空間都充滿水的地層。

We call the very top of the zone of saturation the water table, and this sort of imaginary line can shift depending on where we are.

我們把飽和帶的最頂端稱為地下水位，這條假想線會根據我們所處的位置發生變化。

The water table might be deeper or shallower depending upon the physical characteristics of the region, the input from precipitation, and the output into lakes, streams, and marshes, or during periods of drought.

地下水位可深可淺，取決於該地區的物理特徵、降水輸入量、向湖泊、溪流和沼澤的輸出量或乾旱時期。

Like in the Middle East and North Africa, precipitation patterns in rivers like the Nile,

在中東和北非，尼羅河等河流的降水模式也是如此、

Tigris, and Euphrates guide where there's agriculture and where people settle.

底格里斯河和幼發拉底河指引著農業的發展和人們的定居。

But life can also flourish in oases, where erosion has lowered the land surface, and a relatively high water table means the zone of saturation is close to the surface.

但綠洲中也有生命繁衍，那裡的侵蝕使地表降低，相對較高的地下水位意味著飽和區接近地表。

How much water can be absorbed in the zone of saturation, or its porosity, and whether or not it's permeable and lets water flow depends on the makeup of the soil and rock.

飽和帶（或其孔隙度）能吸收多少水，以及它是否具有滲透性並能讓水流動，取決於土壤和岩石的構成。

That includes the mineral composition, how the particles are arranged, their grain size, and what's between them.

這包括礦物成分、顆粒排列方式、顆粒大小以及顆粒之間的關係。

In fact, aquifers aren't big pools of water beneath the surface.

事實上，含水層並不是地表下的大水池。

They're really permeable rock masses that easily store groundwater and act as a water supply.

它們是真正的滲透性巖塊，很容易儲存地下水，起到供水的作用。

Like, the groundwater that supplies those oases is often recharged by rainfall entering other aquifers far outside the desert.

比如，供應這些綠洲的地下水往往是由遠在沙漠之外的其他含水層的降雨補給的。

The groundwater very slowly moves down and horizontally through porous soil and rock in mountainous areas.

在山區，地下水通過多孔的土壤和岩石緩慢地向下水準流動。

In general, layers of sedimentary rock like sandstone or limestone, or deposits of sand and gravel, are good aquifers because they're permeable and can hold a large amount of groundwater.

一般來說，砂岩或石灰岩等沉積岩層或砂礫沉積層都是很好的含水層，因為它們具有良好的滲透性，可以容納大量地下水。

But on the other hand, clay and shale beds are relatively impermeable and are called aquitards.

但另一方面，粘土和頁岩床相對不透水，被稱為含水層。

So, though we can find groundwater at almost every location on land that receives rainfall, the amount of precipitation, the rate of evaporation, the character of the ground, the amount and type of vegetation, and the porosity and permeability of soils and rocks make it a vastly unequal resource.

是以，儘管我們可以在陸地上幾乎每一個降雨地點找到地下水，但降水量、蒸發率、地表特徵、植被數量和類型以及土壤和岩石的孔隙度和滲透性使得地下水成為一種極不平等的資源。

And where major water resources like aquifers and rivers are actually distributed is complex, especially when they cross one or more international borders.

含水層和河流等主要水資源的實際分佈情況非常複雜，尤其是當它們跨越一個或多個國際邊界時。

Take the Arab-Israeli conflict, which is the ongoing political tensions and military conflicts between Arab nations and Israel and one of the longest and most complex disputes in the world.

阿以衝突是阿拉伯國家和以色列之間持續不斷的政治緊張局勢和軍事衝突，也是世界上持續時間最長、最複雜的爭端之一。

It's often seen as a conflict over land, but it's also about life-giving water on and beneath the land.

這通常被視為土地衝突，但也與土地上和地下的生命之水有關。

This includes the eastern Mediterranean region often called the Levant, where highly productive aquifers made of limestone and dolomite that cross boundaries create some unique challenges.

這包括通常被稱為黎凡特的地中海東部地區，那裡由石灰岩和白雲岩構成的高產含水層跨越邊界，帶來了一些獨特的挑戰。

There have been many ancient civilizations in this region, and some of the earliest references to water use, laws, and management can be found in the Code of Hammurabi, written in approximately 1780 BCE.

該地區有許多古代文明，而有關水資源利用、法律和管理的一些最早記載可以在大約公元前 1780 年寫成的《漢謨拉比法典》中找到。

But today we'll focus on more recent events, though for a more thorough history you can check out that episode from Crash Course World History 2.

不過，今天我們將重點討論近期發生的事件，如果想了解更全面的歷史，可以查看《世界歷史速成班 2》中的那一集。

The Six-Day War between the countries we call Israel, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in 1967 rearranged not only the region's political landscape, but the water resource landscape, particularly in favor of Israel.

1967 年，以色列、埃及、敘利亞和約旦四國之間的六日戰爭不僅改變了該地區的政治格局，也改變了水資源格局，尤其是對以色列有利。

Among other land, Israel gained control of the entire West Bank from Jordan, including sources of water vital to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel.

除其他土地外，以色列還從約旦手中獲得了對整個約旦河西岸的控制權，包括對約旦、敘利亞、黎巴嫩、巴勒斯坦和以色列至關重要的水源。

In particular, the Western Basin, the Northeastern Basin, and the Eastern Basin, which make up the West Bank's aquifer system.

尤其是構成西岸含水層系統的西部盆地、東北部盆地和東部盆地。

Together, these basins make up the Mountain Aquifer, which is a shared Israeli-Palestinian groundwater resource that lies under both Israel and what the United Nations calls the Occupied West Bank, where many Palestinians live.

這些盆地共同構成了山區含水層，它是以色列和巴勒斯坦共有的地下水資源，位於以色列和聯合國所稱的被佔領西岸（許多巴勒斯坦人居住的地方）之下。

It's replenished mostly by rain and snow absorbing into the ground in the West Bank, and flows north and west towards Israeli territory in one direction, and east towards the Jordan River in the other direction.

它的補給主要靠雨雪滲入西岸的地下，向北和向西的一個方向流向以色列領土，另一個方向則向東流向約旦河。

The Mountain Aquifer is the largest and also one of the most important groundwater resources for Israel, and the sole remaining water resource for the Palestinians.

山區含水層是以色列最大也是最重要的地下水資源之一，也是巴勒斯坦人僅存的水資源。

But since 1967 when Israel began occupying the West Bank, strict water use policies have come into effect, creating an inequitable system in which Palestinians' access to this shared resource is highly regulated and restricted.

但是，自 1967 年以色列開始佔領約旦河西岸以來，嚴格的用水政策開始生效，形成了一種不公平的制度，巴勒斯坦人對這一共享資源的使用受到了嚴格的管理和限制。

Under the Interim Oslo II Accords of 1995, Israel retains control of all water resources.

根據 1995 年《奧斯陸第二臨時協議》，以色列保留對所有水資源的控制權。

They utilize 80% of the water from the aquifers under the West Bank, limiting Palestinians to 20%.

他們使用西岸地下含水層 80% 的水，而巴勒斯坦人只能使用 20%。

This allows the average Israeli to use about 300 liters of water per day, while the average Palestinian in the West Bank uses an average of 73 liters.

這使得以色列人平均每天使用約 300 升水，而西岸的巴勒斯坦人平均每天使用 73 升水。

For reference, the World Health Organization says a minimum of 50 liters per person is needed for health and sanitary standards.

世界衛生組織指出，每人至少需要 50 升水才能達到健康和衛生標準。

And in all fairness, the average American also uses over 300 liters per day.

平心而論，美國人平均每天也要使用 300 多升。

Palestinian water use continues to decline as the Palestinian population grows, forcing households to spend as much as 20 to 39% of their income buying water from Israel.

隨著巴勒斯坦人口的增長，巴勒斯坦的用水量持續下降，迫使家庭花費高達 20% 至 39% 的收入從以色列購水。

Though that doesn't include all the water needed for agriculture or manufacturing.

儘管這還不包括農業或製造業所需的所有用水。

Palestinians of the Jordan River Valley have traditionally been farmers and herders, but they're currently unable to cultivate the land.

約旦河谷的巴勒斯坦人歷來是農民和牧民，但他們目前無法耕種土地。

By contrast, the access to water in Israeli settlements has allowed for high-tech dairy farms, vineyards, and orchards.

與此形成鮮明對比的是，以色列定居點的供水條件使得高科技奶牛場、葡萄園和果園得以發展。

Similarly, the part of Palestine called the Gaza Strip uses water drawn from the coastal aquifer located under the coastal plain of Israel and the Gaza Strip.

同樣，被稱為加沙地帶的巴勒斯坦部分使用的水取自以色列和加沙地帶沿海平原下的沿海含水層。

But this aquifer is polluted from over-extraction and sewage infiltration, and it's estimated that 95% of the water supply is not fit for drinking.

但是，由於過度開採和汙水滲透，這個含水層受到了汙染，據估計，95% 的水源不適合飲用。

So as we saw in the American West, particularly for Native Americans still fighting for their water rights, discriminatory water policies and practices that restrict or deny people access to water ultimately block development and lead to unemployment and poverty.

是以，正如我們在美國西部所看到的那樣，特別是對於仍在爭取水權的美國原住民來說，限制或剝奪人們用水權的歧視性水政策和做法最終會阻礙發展，導致失業和貧困。

Political leverage and control over water like this is called hydropolitics, and it's one of the most difficult problems preventing a path to peace in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is part of the broader Arab-Israeli conflict.

對水的政治影響和控制被稱為水緣政治，它是阻礙巴以衝突實現和平的最棘手問題之一，而巴以衝突是更廣泛的阿以衝突的一部分。

Hydrological features like aquifers and watersheds don't often line up with political borders, and here in this part of the Middle East and North Africa, that's complicated even more by the fact that the political borders are also contested.

含水層和分水嶺等水文特徵通常不會與政治邊界相一致，而在中東和北非的這一地區，政治邊界也存在爭議，這使得情況更加複雜。

So without clear spatial boundaries and with multiple layers of human-environment interactions, water access and water stress is a huge obstacle Palestinians face.

是以，如果沒有明確的空間界限，再加上人類與環境之間多層次的相互作用，水資源的獲取和用水壓力是巴勒斯坦人面臨的巨大障礙。

Worldwide, there are 366 aquifers that cross boundaries, and the political, socioeconomic, and cultural difficulties between countries make sharing groundwater challenging.

全世界有 366 個地下蓄水層跨越國界，而國家之間在政治、社會經濟和文化方面的困難使得共享地下水面臨挑戰。

And aquifers are being pumped beyond their recharge capacities or contaminated when water percolating through the soil carries pollutants like fertilizers, pesticides, and feces and reaches an aquifer.

地下蓄水層被抽取的水量超出了其補給能力，或者當滲入土壤的水攜帶著化肥、殺蟲劑和糞便等汙染物到達地下蓄水層時，地下蓄水層受到汙染。

Which has huge ramifications for food security.

這對糧食安全產生了巨大影響。

Groundwater is largely unseen, but it may have the largest implications for all the ways freshwater intersects in our daily lives, from the water we drink and clean with, to the hidden freshwater that we need to process and produce a commodity.

地下水在很大程度上是看不見的，但它可能對淡水與我們日常生活的所有交集產生最大的影響，從我們飲用和清潔的水，到我們加工和生產商品所需的隱性淡水。

By measuring the commodity's water footprint, or even the groundwater footprint, we can see the amount of hidden water used.

通過測量商品的水足跡，甚至地下水足跡，我們可以看到隱性用水量。

For example, beef cattle need 4,650 liters of water for us to produce a 300 gram steak.

例如，肉牛生產一塊 300 克的牛排需要 4650 升水。

So when we eat high on the food chain, we're also drinking high on the water chain and placing enormous pressure on ecosystems, agricultural systems, and the communities who live where the product is actually produced.

是以，當我們在食物鏈的高處進食時，我們也在水鏈的高處飲水，並對生態系統、農業系統和產品實際生產地的社區造成巨大壓力。

But any solution that would lead to sustainable groundwater use requires local and regional-level cooperation, which continues to be a massive hurdle not just in the Middle East and North Africa.

但是，任何能夠實現地下水可持續利用的解決方案都需要地方和地區一級的合作，而這不僅在中東和北非地區仍然是一個巨大的障礙。

Each aquifer has a different set of social, economic, and political frameworks guiding how we value groundwater and regulate it.

每個含水層都有一套不同的社會、經濟和政治框架，指導我們如何重視地下水並對其進行管理。

As physical geographers, we have just the right skills to observe and understand the physical processes at work that create groundwater and aquifers.

作為自然地理學家，我們擁有觀察和了解形成地下水和含水層的物理過程的適當技能。

We also have the tools to see how different spaces and places fit together on different scales, from personal water consumption to regional water-sharing agreements.

我們還有工具來了解不同空間和地點如何在不同尺度上相互配合，從個人用水量到區域水資源共享協議。

And human geography can help us understand how shifts in power across the watershed and aquifer basin over water rights impacts the cultural use of water, which we'll discuss more in the second half of the series.

人文地理學可以幫助我們瞭解整個流域和含水層盆地在水權問題上的權力變化是如何影響水的文化使用的，我們將在系列的後半部分對此進行更多討論。

Next time, we'll see that water isn't the only resource that crosses boundaries and creates difficult geopolitical situations.

下一次，我們將看到水並不是唯一跨越國界、造成地緣政治困境的資源。

The poles are thawing, changing spaces and places on the entire globe.

兩極正在解凍，改變著整個地球的空間和位置。

Many maps and borders represent modern geopolitical divisions that have often been decided without the consultation, permission, or recognition of the land's original inhabitants.

許多地圖和邊界代表著現代地緣政治的劃分，而這些劃分往往是在未徵求土地原住民的意見、未徵得其同意或未得到其承認的情況下決定的。

Many geographical place names also don't reflect the Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples' languages.

許多地名也沒有反映土著或原住民的語言。

So we at Crash Course want to acknowledge these peoples' traditional and ongoing relationship with that land and all the physical and human geographical elements of it.

是以，我們 "速成班 "希望承認這些民族與這片土地及其所有自然和人文地理要素之間的傳統和持續關係。

We encourage you to learn more about the history of the place you call home through resources like NativeLand.ca and by engaging with your local Indigenous and Aboriginal nations through the websites and resources they provide.

我們鼓勵您通過 NativeLand.ca 等資源以及當地原住民和土著民族提供的網站和資源，更多地瞭解您所居住的地方的歷史。

Thanks for watching this episode of Crash Course Geography, which is filmed at the Team Sandoval Pierce Studio and was made with the help of all these nice people.

感謝您收看本期《地理速成班》，本期節目是在桑多瓦爾-皮爾斯團隊工作室（Team Sandoval Pierce Studio）拍攝的，得到了各位好心人的幫助。

If you want to help keep Crash Course free for everyone, forever, you can join our community on Patreon.

如果您想幫助《速成課程》永遠免費，可以加入我們的 Patreon 社區。