美国国家公共电台 NPR In Massachusetts, Coastal Residents Consider How To Adapt To Climate Change

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Living by the ocean might sound nice. In the time of climate change, it can be risky¹. As sea levels rise, people who live near the coast have tough choices - try to fortify² their homes, move to higher ground or just leave. Sam Evans-Brown, host of New Hampshire Public Radio's podcast "Outside/In," has this story about homeowners dealing³ with these decisions.

SAM EVANS-BROWN, BYLINE⁴: Nahant, Mass., is a rocky crescent moon of land out in the Atlantic Ocean just north of Boston. For its entire history, it's been at the mercy of the ocean. To get to the town back in the 1800s, you'd cross a long, beautiful beach at low tide that connected it to the mainland. At high tide, you had to take a boat. These days, there's a four-lane road built on that beach, and it sits just a few feet above the water.

(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING)

DAVE LAZARRO: Hi, how you doing?

EVANS-BROWN: I'm doing well. How are you?

Dave Lazarro is a retired⁵ bartender and a woodworker.

D. LAZARRO: When the weather's good and in the summer, there was no prettier, nicer place. We have a private beach. We have a great view. The shipping⁶ lanes of Boston come right in front of our house, so all the big ships that come in, we can see. And I love it. I love my house.

EVANS-BROWN: The house Lazarro shares with his wife, Chris, is full of his carvings⁷. It's kind of a comforting nautical⁸ clutter⁹. He and Chris have lived on Willow¹⁰ Road for nearly 50 years in a house that at high tide is a stone's throw from the water.

More than 120 million people live in counties on the United States Coast, but anyone living on the water knows you get the beautiful summer days but also the brutal¹¹ storms.

D. LAZARRO: When a storm comes in, the house shakes. You can literally¹² feel it.

EVANS-BROWN: Back during the Blizzard¹³ of 1978, Dave Lazarro tried to ride out the storm in his home.

D. LAZARRO: When we finally decided¹⁴ to leave, the current was so strong in front of the house that I had to take - I had a boat at the time, and I had an anchor in the cellar. And I took the anchor, swung it around, threw it over across the street and hooked it onto the chain-link fence. And we use that as security in case we got swept.

EVANS-BROWN: As the seas rise, climate scientists predict devastation¹⁵ like this will become more and more common. Higher seas will mean even a less-powerful storm could push the tides up over Nahant's seawalls. This is a problem that Sam Merrill spends his days grappling with. He works with a firm that helps communities protect themselves from storms.

D. LAZARRO: The unfortunate thing is, what we're really facing in so many of these coastal¹⁶ areas is what you can rightly call an extinction¹⁷ threat - the extinction of a community. We don't know how to deal with extinction. It's not really a conversation in our public sphere.

EVANS-BROWN: One independent group of climate scientists estimates that about 12 million people could be at risk. That's 12 million people who need answers.

D. LAZARRO: You always have three options - fortify, accommodate and relocate.

EVANS-BROWN: If this sounds like a simple choice, try spending some time in a place like Nahant. Just a few doors down from Dave Lazarro lives Ken¹⁸ Carangelo. He's single, no kids and an executive at a big company in the film industry. In front of his house, there's an imposing¹⁹ seawall, tall enough that you can't reach the top of it from the beach and deep enough that there's another 10 feet buried in the sand.

KEN CARANGELO: And everything that's down there has a solid footing and Kevlar-coated rebar so the salt doesn't get to it as much.

EVANS-BROWN: That wall would be option one - a fortification. Ken bought this house in 2008, but he says the seawall cost the previous owners more than $200,000.

CARANGELO: It's the equivalent of building a sandcastle, and you kind of know what happens. You know, after a while, the ocean will do what the ocean's going to do. It depends how hard you want to fight it I guess.

EVANS-BROWN: Plenty of people in coastal communities believe the federal government should help pay to protect these sandcastles. But Sam Merrill, the coastal engineer, says the cost of protection, especially if you're trying to protect every building from every storm in every community in the country - we're talking about spending billions every year for a century.

SAM MERRILL: Well, I don't think it's feasible to protect every community.

EVANS-BROWN: So what about option number two, accommodate?

ENZO BARILE: Seawalls can only do so much. You're not going to stop the Atlantic Ocean...

EVANS-BROWN: Enzo Barile is a local official in Nahant. He grew up here, owns a garage in town and took me on a tour. He was pointing out all of the places the town doesn't allow construction - low-lying baseball fields, golf courses and public lands.

BARILE: It's open space - can't be built on. It helps us keep our cost down.

EVANS-BROWN: Nahant is doing other things to accommodate the occasional flood, too, like requiring buildings in at-risk areas to be built on elevated foundations that let the water pass underneath²⁰. But even with all of these strategies, coastal communities are risky places. Some homes get flooded over and over and can use federally administered flood insurance to rebuild each time. If you think of it in health care terms, this is kind of like the chronically²¹ sickest patients going to the doctor again and again, driving up the cost of insurance.

BARILE: Where do we draw the line?

EVANS-BROWN: That's Enzo Barile again.

BARILE: I don't know. I think that - personally I think that once FEMA has paid you and if they've paid for your home, you've lost it because it's in a ridiculous spot (laughter), enough's enough. We have to say no because the country is paying for that now.

EVANS-BROWN: Flood insurance which is administered through FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, removes the financial risk for families. And that's why option number three, relocate, is pretty rare. Insurance rates are rising for coastal residents, but it's happening super slowly. It could take another 10 to 15 years before many of them are paying what the private industry would consider a rate that truly reflects the risk. For Dave and Chris Lazarro, the push and pull between the risk and the allure²² of living by the shore is clear when you ask them about their insurance.

Do you guys think you could live here without flood insurance? Do you think that, like, you would take that risk?

D. LAZARRO: No.

CHRIS LAZARRO: Yes (laughter).

D. LAZARRO: As long as we could afford it.

EVANS-BROWN: Dave says no. His wife, Chris, says yes. Clearly this idea of relocating is fraught²³, tied up in the emotions of abandoning your dream home. The Lazarro's home on Willow Road has been flooded six times over the past 40 some-odd years, and Dave doesn't question that the seas are rising.

D. LAZARRO: Storms are getting more intense, and there are places where once you can live that now you can't live. I don't think of Willow Road that way.

EVANS-BROWN: Lazarro feels this way even as he acknowledges that more and more of the odds²⁴ aren't in his favor.

D. LAZARRO: Is this house going to be safe here in the next 25 years? I'm not sure about that because I think that those storms that come in - if you're in the path, you're in trouble.

EVANS-BROWN: Sure, he knows he'll probably be flooded a seventh time, but he's not ready to give up the house he loves quite yet. For NPR News, I'm Sam Evans-Brown.

MCEVERS: A version of this story first aired as part of WBEZ's climate-change project "Heat of the Moment."

(SOUNDBITE OF MANU DELAGO SONG, "BIGGER THAN HOME")

1 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

2 fortify   

v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化

参考例句：

• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
• This treaty forbade the United States to fortify the canal.此条约禁止美国对运河设防。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 carvings   

n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物

参考例句：

• The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

9 clutter   

n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱

参考例句：

• The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱，我们什么也找不到。
• We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。

10 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

11 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

17 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

18 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

19 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

20 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

21 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

22 allure   

n.诱惑力，魅力；vt.诱惑，引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• The window displays allure customers to buy goods.橱窗陈列品吸引顾客购买货物。
• The book has a certain allure for which it is hard to find a reason.这本书有一种难以解释的魅力。

23 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

24 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？