国家地理 保护着海岸和生命的消失的森林(4)

But after years of abuse from man and nature, the mangroves seem to be nearing their limits. Illicit¹ logging, mostly for building materials to house the region's booming population, has thinned out the periphery² of the forest. At the same time, increasing water salinity³ caused by the encroaching sea is killing⁴ off many higher value, storm-stopping tree species, such as the sundari that gives the forest its name. The salinity assault comes from both land and sea: Upstream dams on rivers in India have reduced freshwater flow into the Sundarbans, while sea-level rise caused by climate change is flushing more salt water into the mangroves.

但在经历了人与自然多年的破坏之后，红树林似乎已经达到了极限。为了给急剧增加的人口提供住房，人们大量砍伐树木，当作建筑材料，造成了红树林边缘的退化。与此同时，海面上升导致水中含盐量的增加，红树林失去了很多价值，也失去了阻拦暴风雨的树种，比如被用来命名这片森林的苏达利树。导致水中含盐量增加的原因同时来自陆地和海洋：印度河流上游的大坝导致流入孙德本尔斯的淡水减少，气候变化导致的海平面上升又使更多的咸水流入红树林。

"The salinity front is just going up and up and up," said Mashfiqus Salehin, a professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology's Institute of Water and Flood Management. "New areas will salinize, and moderately salinized areas might become unlivable. It's becoming a big problem." In the worst-case scenario⁵, in which sea levels rise by more than six feet this century, Bangladesh alone stands to lose some 800 square miles of mangroves in the Sundarbans. The best-case scenario is a loss of roughly 80 square miles. Salehin and other scientists fear even that much might prove disastrous⁶ for a country so poor the forest is besieged⁷ by human needs.

孟加拉国大学水涝管理工程技术学院教授马斯菲克·莎尔金表示：“含盐量高的水域在不停地扩张。新的区域正在逐渐盐化，中度盐化的区域不再适宜人类居住。这将是一个大问题。”最坏的情况下 本世纪海平面将上升超过六英尺，单是孟加拉国就会失去孙德本尔斯地区约八百平方英里的红树林。最好的情况下也会失去大约八十平方英里。即使是后者，莎尔金和其他科学家也担心这会对一个人类如此需要红树林的国家造成致命性打击。

The land itself is disappearing. Without the tangled⁸ roots of the mangroves to stabilize⁹ it, land erodes¹⁰ into the sea -- and with upstream dams trapping river sediment¹¹, it's not replenished¹² as it once was.

土地正在流失。没有了虬曲的树根，土壤被冲进海洋--上游的大坝又阻拦了河流的沉积物，下游的土壤无法再像以往一样得到补充。

1 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

2 periphery   

n.(圆体的)外面；周围

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe.从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。
• The periphery of the retina is very sensitive to motion.视网膜的外围对运动非常敏感。

3 salinity   

n.盐分；咸度；盐浓度；咸性

参考例句：

• In the sea water sampled the salinity is two parts per thousand.在取样的海水中，盐度为千分之二。
• In many sedimentary basins the salinity of the formation water increases with depth or compaction.在许多沉积盆地中，地层水的含盐量随深度或压实作用而增高。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

6 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

7 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

8 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

9 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

10 erodes   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的第三人称单数 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The sea erodes the rock. 海水侵蚀岩石。
• The sea erodes the land. 海洋侵蚀陆地。

11 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

12 replenished   

补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满

参考例句：

• She replenished her wardrobe. 她添置了衣服。
• She has replenished a leather [fur] coat recently. 她最近添置了一件皮袄。