L465 Climate Change May Take Away Your Ability to Flush the
About one in five households in the United States depends on a septic system to eliminate waste (that’s 60 million households,for those of you who don’t like fractions). But that septic-associated security could go down the drain,according to information in a U.N. report on oceans published last week. ?UN说美帝1/5家庭因为气候变化 没法冲厕所。。。 While the report is not specifically about your bathroom,per se,it shows how a stealthy threat — sea-level rise — could make it more difficult for people with septic systems to flush their toilets. A brief primer on septic systems,which are common in rural areas: The stuff in your toilet goes into an underground tank,where it breaks down and gets drained out into a leach field that’s at least 20 feet from your house. In order to function properly,those drainage fields have to be relatively dry. 海平面上升--会使那些有化粪池系统的人更难冲厕所。 Rising groundwater levels (a problem that accompanies sea-level rise) are soaking the fields,making it more difficult for our waste to break down and get absorbed properly. Rising groundwater also affects the soil’s ability to filter out harmful bacteria,which poses a public safety risk. And to make matters worse,increased rainfall,another climate change-related perk,is exacerbating the issue. It’s a back-up problem that can’t be solved with a plunger,if you catch my drift. 地下水位上升的坏处。。。。。 Miami-Dade county commissioned a report on vulnerable toilets this year and found 64 percent of tanks could run into problems by 2040. Minnesota,an inland state,has to contend with another climate-related toilet problem: lack of snow. Snow,which keeps things nice and insulated,has been noticeably absent in early winter and spring. Freezing temperatures are still kicking around,though. That means the frost line has taken a dive deep underground and compromised thousands of Minnesotans’ septic 化粪池 systems. 举个栗子...
解决方案... One method is to reform the way septic systems are regulated so that new systems are evaluated for their susceptibility to climate change before they’re put in. Researchers are already mapping out areas with infrastructure that’s vulnerable to groundwater level rise in coming years in states like New Hampshire. When it comes to existing septic systems,Mihaly says inspecting them when houses change hands at point of sale is a “way to make sure that we’re checking in on how infrastructure is doing given current risk,and how it’s changed from 30 or 40 years ago.”
总结:面对气候变化,我们需要考虑内陆基础设施的可靠性和功能性。 (编辑:李大同) 【声明】本站内容均来自网络,其相关言论仅代表作者个人观点,不代表本站立场。若无意侵犯到您的权利,请及时与联系站长删除相关内容! |