和訳例を教えて下さい。
(1)If climate change and population growth progress at their current pace, in roughly 50 years farming as we know it will no longer exist. This means that the majority of people could soon be without enough food or water. But there is a solution that is surprisingly within reach, and that is to move most farming into cities, and grow crops in tall, specially constructed buildings. It’s called vertical farming.
(2)The floods and lack of rainfall that have come with climate change are destroying traditional farmland. Three recent floods, for example, have cost the US billions of dollars in lost crops, with even more serious losses in topsoil. In India changes in rain patterns and temperature could reduce India’s agricultural output by 30% or more by the end of the century.
(3)What’s more, population increases will soon reduce the amount of land available to American farmers. The amount of land for farming per person has decreased from about an acre in 1970 to roughly half an acre in 2000, and it is expected to decline to about a third of an acre by 2050. With billions more people on the way, before we know it the traditional soil-based farming model developed over the last 12,000 years will no longer be possible anywhere. In short, it has become alarmingly clear that the world must find new methods of food production and distribution.
(4)Now imagine a vertical farm built within the limits of a major city. Food production would take advantage of hydroponic methods that use far less water than conventional cultivation techniques, in some cases as much as 90 percent less. When we apply the vertical farm concept to countries that are water-challenged, such as those in the Middle East, the benefits of vertical farming look even more attractive. For this reason the world’s very first vertical farm may be established there, although the idea has now attracted considerable interest from architects, scientists and governments all over the world.
(5)The list of benefits of the vertical farm is indeed long. To start with,
crop production would no longer be limited by seasons or be impacted by poor whether. The farm itself would behave like a functional ecosystem in which waste is recycled to be used over and over again. By supplying a continuous quantity of fresh vegetables and fruits to city residents, such farms would help prevent health problems, some of which arise from the lack of quality food in our diet. They wouldn't only improve urban life, but also help to restore the land that was damaged by traditional farming. For every indoor acre farmed, some 10 to 20 outdoor acres of farmland could be allowed to return to their original state. The vertical farm would also create new employment opportunities for the expanding populations of urban centers, certain in which abandoned properties could become productive once again.
(6)Moreover, vertical farms would produce crops that contain no added chemicals. The farms would greatly reduce air pollution, since they would eliminate the need for heavy farm machines and trucks that deliver food from farm to fork. Think how great it would be if everything on your plate came from around the corner, rather than from hundreds or thousands of miles away. The structures themselves would be things of beauty and grace. In order to allow plants to capture sunlight, walls and ceilings would be completely transparent. So from a distance, it would look as if there were gardens suspended in space.
(7)While experimental vertical farming projects in the US and the UK have shown very positive results thus far, it is important to bear in mind that the science of vertical farming still has a long way to go. To be successful in the long term, vertical farming will still need to prove that it is economically efficient, especially with respect to energy and urban land costs.
本文の原文→http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/opinion/24Despommier.html?_r=1&
