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 Words in the News
INTRO 
 Monday 22nd March was World Water Day: serious water shortages are expected in the next century. Corinne Podger from BBC Science reported.
IN FULL 
 AudioListen to the report in full
Water Shortages

25th March 1999

Global Water Shortages

NEWS 1 It’s hard to imagine a global shortage of water, when oceans cover three-quarters of the world’s surface. But the United Nations expects two billion people will face severe water crises in just twenty-five years time. The UN and the World Water Council are launching a World Water Commission, charged with the task of finding urgent solutions to the impending crisis. The commission’s new chairman, Ismael Serageldin, told reporters the water equation is "simple but deadly" - more water must be found to supply an extra three billion people who will be alive by 2025. Verbal conflicts have already erupted over water in the Middle East and Northern Africa, and tension is also mounting about access to the Ganges on the Indian sub-continent and the Mekong River in Indochina.
WORDS 
 

face: if you face a difficulty, you have to deal with it

launching: they have started it working

charged with: its job is to

equation: there are two parts to the problem: people and water. They must be considered together before the whole situation can be understood

Verbal conflicts: attacks in the media

erupted: broken out

access: deciding who is allowed to use the water

NEWS 2 

The Commission’s first task will be to find ways of making desalination - removing salt from sea water - cheaper and more effective. It will also develop techniques to locate and tap underground water reservoirs, and introduce water recycling in cities and villages world-wide. Mr Serageldin said these goals must be achieved by 2025. Otherwise, he warned, the inevitable alternatives were famine and water wars.

WORDS  

task: a piece of work that must be done

locate: discover or find

tap: make use of

recycling: processing water so it can be used again

water wars: actual wars involving fighting

  Read about the background in BBC News Online

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