PBS高端访谈:巴西遭遇救火压力

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: The government of Brazil moved to deploy¹ troops tomorrow to rein² in raging wildfires across the Amazon rain forest. William Brangham reports.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Large parts of the Amazon are being engulfed³ in record-breaking flames. More than 9,500 fires have broken out this past week. Today, under increasing pressure to address the crisis, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro talked of sending in the army, saying "That's the plan". He had conceded yesterday that the situation is dire⁴, and that his government lacked the resources to fight it.

JAIR BOLSONARO, Brazilian President (through translator): The Ministry⁵ of Justice can send 40 men to combat the fight, but do you understand that, 40 men? There are not enough resources. We are in chaos⁶.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Forest fires are common in Brazil this time of year, but their numbers have skyrocketed to more than 75,000 this year. That's up 80 percent from 2018. And the smoke from them has turned Sao Paulo's midday skies into total darkness. Bolsonaro has said, with no evidence, that nonprofit groups started the fires to undermine him. But scientists point to three main causes all stemming from human activity that are driving this crisis, first, rampant⁷ deforestation. A staggering amount of the Amazon rain forest gets cut down intentionally⁸. In June alone, an area half the size of Rhode Island was lost. Much of the logging is illegal, and driven by rising agriculture in the region. Fire is routinely used by farmers to clear out the brush for farming and grazing. Droughts have also played a key role. They occur naturally, but scientists say climate change is likely making them worse and more frequent. The right-wing populist president has relaxed environmental protections and prioritized opening up the rain forest for development. Bolsonaro has called the fires an internal matter for Brazilians to resolve, but international pressure for action is mounting. French President Emanuel Macron plans to highlight the crisis at this weekend's G7 summit with world leaders in France. And Macron threatened to withdraw French support for a trade deal between the European Union and South American countries, including Brazil, if immediate⁹ action is not taken. Ireland quickly followed suit. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm William Brangham

朱迪·伍德拉夫：今天其他领域的新闻——巴西政府决定明天部署军队来抑制巴西雨林地区发生的火灾。请听我台记者威廉·布朗汉姆发回的报道。

威廉·布朗汉姆：亚马逊大片地区被破纪录的猛烈火势所吞噬。在刚过去的这周里，发生了9500多起火灾。今天，在应对危机压力愈发加大的情况下，巴西总统雅伊尔·博索纳罗谈及派出部队的事情，他的原话是——这是我们的计划。他昨天终于承认火灾形势十分严重，也承认巴西政府缺乏对抗火灾形势的资源。

雅伊尔·博索纳罗，巴西总统（以下为文本是翻译版本）：司法部可派出40人对抗火灾，但大家注意到这个数字了吗？40人。40人还不够，我们已经一片混乱了。

威廉·布朗汉姆：每年这个时候，巴西经常会出现森林大火。但今年火灾数量大幅上升，达到了7.5万多次。比2018年上升了80%。火灾产生的烟气让圣保罗的天空变得一片灰暗。博索纳罗说，虽然没有证据，但他认为是一些非盈利组织放了火，想要诋毁他的声誉。但一些科学家指出这场火灾危机中有3个主要原因都来自于人类活动，而首要原因是滥砍滥伐。亚马逊有大片雨林遭到了人类的有意砍伐。仅6月一个月，罗德岛州一半面积的雨林就已因砍伐而消失。其中很多砍伐行为都是非法的，是该地区农业发展所驱动的。农民通常都会用火来清除灌木，便于耕作和放牧。干旱是第二个主要原因。旱灾不是人祸，但科学家说，气候变化很有可能会导致旱灾形势恶化，而且会出现得更加频繁。右翼民粹主义总统博索纳罗放松了对环境的保护，他将开发雨林作为首要任务。博索纳罗认为火灾是国内问题，应该由巴西人民一起解决，但国际社会迫使他采取行动的压力也在逐渐增大。法国总统马克龙计划在周末举行的G7峰会上强调这次的危机，那时候，世界多国领导人会齐聚法国。马克龙还威胁称，如果巴西不立刻采取行动的话，法国就会不再支持欧盟与南美洲国家（包括巴西）签订的一项贸易协议。爱尔兰很快跟风法国。感谢收听威廉·布朗汉姆发回的《新闻一小时》。

1 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

2 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

3 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

7 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

8 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。