把南极冰山拖到阿联酋供水？这不是开玩笑。

阿联酋的一位富翁计划耗资10亿元将南极一块冰山拖回阿联酋，而且今年他就将尝试把冰山拖到澳大利亚或南非。这位富翁表示，冰山能供应新鲜饮用水，能改善气候，还能拉动旅游业，一举多得。

An inventor and entrepreneur from the UAE plans to drag an iceberg to Australia or South Africa later this year - at a cost of $80million.

阿联酋的一位发明家兼企业家计划今年晚些时候将一座冰山拖到澳大利亚或南非，预计耗资8000万美元（约合人民币5.5亿元）。

Abdulla Alshehi says a chunk of Antarctic ice will be towed to either Cape Town or Perth at some point in 2019.

阿卜杜拉·阿尔谢希称，今年将把一块南极冰山拖到开普敦或珀斯。

The mission will act as a test run for a much more ambitious project which he hopes will end with a hunk of ice measuring 1.2miles by 550 yards being taken to the UAE.

此次任务只是试水，未来还有更加宏伟的计划。他希望最后能将一大块长1.2英里（1.9千米）宽550码（0.5千米）的冰山带回阿联酋。

The aim would be to provide the Emirates with a steady supply of fresh drinking water, along with a tourist attraction.

这一计划的目标是为阿联酋提供新鲜饮用水的稳定来源，并将冰山作为一个旅游景点。

Speaking to Euronews's Inspire Middle East, Alshehi said: 'As per our analysis, it will be cheaper to bring in these icebergs rather than using desalination water (gained by stripping the salt out of sea water.)

阿尔谢希对欧洲新闻电视台启迪中东频道的记者说：“据我们的分析，把冰山运过来比使用淡化的海水更便宜。”

as per: 按照，依据；如同

desalination[,di,sælɪ'neʃən]: n. （海水的）脱盐，淡化

'Desalination plants require a huge amount of capital investment and mean pumping a huge amount of sea water to the gulf, killing fish and marine life.

“海水淡化厂需要巨额资金投入，同时也意味着要把大量海水注入海湾，杀死鱼和其他海洋生物。”

'We believe it will be economically better and more environmentally friendly to use the icebergs, not just for the United Arab Emirates, but throughout the world.'

“我们认为用冰山供水更经济实惠，也更环保，不只是对阿联酋，对整个世界都是如此。”

Alshehi points out that similar schemes were trialled before by the likes of Saudi Arabia, but their project failed in 1977 due to technical difficulties.

阿尔谢希指出，沙特阿拉伯此前也试行过类似的计划，但因为技术难关在1977年失败了。

He plans to overcome these difficulties using a metal 'belt' which will be constructed around the ice, before using a boat to drag the block across the ocean.

阿尔谢希克服技术难关的计划是在冰山四周建起一个金属“带”，然后用一艘船穿越海洋将冰山拖回来。

The block selected for use by the UAE will be chosen via satellite and could measure as much as 1.2miles long and 550 yards across.

阿联酋将通过卫星选定目标冰山，尺寸大概是1.2英里长550码宽。

It is expected to lose around 30 percent of its mass during its ten-month journey from Heard Island, near Antarctica, to the Fujairah coast.

将冰山从南极洲附近的赫德岛拖到富查伊拉海岸，在长达10个月的旅途中预计会损失约30%的体积。

Even so, the block will provide millions of litres of fresh drinking water to the Arab kingdom, as well as bringing natural rain clouds by releasing cool, damp air.

即使如此，余下的冰山仍会为阿联酋提供数百万升新鲜饮用水，还能通过释放湿冷空气形成天然雨云。

Alshehi hopes the block will also prove to be a major tourist attraction.

阿尔谢希希望这座冰山还能成为一个主要旅游景点。

The final project will cost between $100million and $150million, in addition to the $60million to $80million spent on the test run.

除去试水工程所花费的6000万至8000万美元，最终的工程将耗资1亿至1.5亿美元。

The UAE is one of the most arid countries and one of the top 10 most water-scarce in the world, due to its extremely arid climate, which receives less than four inches (100 mm) of rainfall per year.

由于极度干旱的气候，阿联酋是世界上最干旱的国家之一，也是全球最缺水的十个国家之一，每年降水还不到4英寸（100毫米）。

Despite that, it consumes more water than double the global national average putting the country at severe risk of droughts over the next 25 years.

尽管如此，阿联酋消耗的水量却是全球平均水平的两倍多，这将使其在未来25年出现严重旱灾风险。

drought[draʊt]: n. 干旱

An average iceberg contains more than 20 billion gallons of water, according to the company.

根据这家公司的数据，一座冰山平均含有超200亿加仑的水。

They take a long time to melt as 80 percent of their mass is underwater, while the white ice above reflects sunlight and deflects its heat.

冰山融化需要很长的时间，因为80%的部分都在水面下，而水面上的白色冰层会反射太阳光，分散热量。

Upon arrival at a specially constructed processing facility, workers will 'mine' the icebergs for their water supplies.

一旦冰山到达专门的处理厂，工人就会从冰山“开采”水资源来供水。

Blocks of ice will be chipped off and placed in giant tanks, before being filtered and processed.

工人将从冰山上凿下一块块的冰，放入巨大的水箱中，进行过滤和处理。

'This is the purest water in the world', Mr Al Shehi added.

阿尔谢希补充道：“这是世界上最纯净的水。”

He also claims the iceberg's presence could provide a more moist micro-climate in the area, perhaps even prompting rainfall.

他还声称，冰山的存在将为该地区提供更湿润的小气候，甚至可能带来降雨。

And the project may prove a boost for tourism if it proves a success, with people travelling to see the unusual sight of an iceberg off the coast of the Arabian Gulf.

如果冰山成功运回，这一项目或许还能带动旅游业，人们会远道而来，观赏阿拉伯湾海岸边不同寻常的冰山。