VOA常速英语2016--世界最大淡水湖乍得湖或将消失（在线收听）

世界最大淡水湖乍得湖或将消失

Lake Chad, which is bordered by four African nations: Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad, was once one of the world's largest. But a combination of climate change, drought and bad use of resources, have shrunk the basin by 90 percent in the past four decades.

曾是全球最大淡水湖的乍得湖与4个非洲国家接壤，分别是：喀麦隆、尼日尔、尼日利亚和乍得。然而，由于气候变化、旱灾、滥用资源等的共同作用，乍得湖水域在过去的40年间已萎缩了90%。

The drying up of the lake has not only caused an ecological catastrophe but a humanitarian one looms as well. The director for the Land and Water division at FAO, Parviz Koohafkan, says there are enormous consequences for the populations who live in the lake region.

乍得湖的干涸不仅引起了生态灾难，人道主义灾难也将接踵而至。联合国粮食与农业组织水土部负责人帕尔维兹表示，这对居住在乍得湖区域的人来说后患无穷。

"Between 20 and 30 million people are affected, especially from the point of view of food security," said Parviz Koohafkan. "They are the poorest of the poor and they are most insecure in terms of food and nutrition."

有2-3千万人口受到影响，尤其是在食品安全方面。他们是全球最贫困的人群，在食品与营养方面最易受到威胁。

He says something must be done urgently to reverse the tragic disappearance of Lake Chad if the livelihoods of this vast area are to be safeguarded. He explains some of the steps that need to be taken.

帕尔维兹表示，要保护乍得湖广大区域的人口安全，就必须采取紧急措施扭转乍得湖的消失。他提到了一些必须采取的措施。

"Helping the local communities to better use resources, through participatory approach, through development, through capacity building, through helping them in coping with water scarcity, with land degradation, development projects but particularly in investment," he said.

帮助当地人口更好地利用资源，比如通过参与、发展、能力建设，帮助他们解决缺水、土地退化、开发项目，尤其是投资方面。

One project being considered at the moment is the transfer of water from the Lake Congo basin to the Lake Chad basin. The minister of Energy and Water in Congo, Jean Richard Itoua, says this is an option that needs to be carefully examined.

其中一个正在考虑的项目就是将刚果河的水引渡到乍得湖。刚果能源水利部的让表示，这一选择应谨慎考虑。

"We need to do this feasibility study; we need also an impact study to be sure that the consequences of transferring water will not be bigger than the solution we're trying to bring to Lake Chad," Itoua said.

我们需要做可行性研究；也需要做影响评估，以确保引渡水资源的后果不会大于挽救乍得湖的好处。

Experts say it is urgent to address the problem because at the current rate, Lake Chad could dry up and disappear in 20 years.

一些专家表示，急需解决这个问题，因为以现在的干涸速度来看，不到20年，乍得湖就会干涸消失。