战争、干旱威胁伊拉克沼泽地

War, Drought Threaten Iraq's Marshlands 战争、干旱威胁伊拉克沼泽地

Iraq's southern wetlands are in crisis.  These areas are the spawning² ground for Gulf³ fisheries, a resting place for migrating wildfowl, and the source of livelihood⁴ for fishermen and herders who have called the marshes⁵ home for generations.

伊拉克南部的湿地处在危机状态。这些地区是海湾渔场的产卵地，还是候鸟的栖息地，更是渔民和牧民的生计来源。

But drought that has stretched for two decades means less fresh water flowing into the marshes. As water levels fall, salinity⁶ goes up, leading to fish kills. The lack of fresh water has also pushed Marsh¹ Arabs who own livestock⁷ - mainly cows or buffalo⁸ - to search for other sources of water.

干旱持续了二十年，流入湿地的淡水减少了。随着水位下降，含盐量上升，造成鱼类死亡。淡水稀缺还迫使养牛的“沼泽阿拉伯人”(Marsh Arabs)寻找其它水源。

Many families are leaving the area for other parts of Iraq. That poses a challenge to a society already wracked by war, says Hashim al Badran, director of the Agricultural Engineers Association of Basra.

 “他们肯定会跟其他部落起冲突，争抢自然资源，这将造成安全问题。” 巴士拉农业工程师协会主任哈希姆·巴德兰说。

"Then, it's sure, there will be conflict between them and other tribes about natural resources and it will cause security problems," he said.

The problem began with the building of dams upstream in the 1970s, and worsened when Saddam Hussein ordered the wetlands drained in the 1990s to punish the Marsh Arabs for the revolt against his rule. That, and the nearly 20 years of drought, are complicated today by the advance of the self-declared Islamic State.

旱情持续近二十年，而自封“伊斯兰国”的激进组织的崛起使局势更加严峻。

"The war that is taking place in the north and west of Iraq against the terrorist groups, is happening in the areas that we call the large dams, like Mosul dam," al Badran observed. "Now it's a military zone and Haditha Dam in Ramadi is a military operation zone, in addition to dams in Ramadi and Falluja."

巴德兰说： “伊拉克北部和西部的反恐战争都发生在我们所说的大坝地区，比如摩苏尔水坝。”

That gives the militants⁹ the ability to flood cities or withhold¹⁰ water.

这给了激进分子放水淹城或切断供水的能力。

An effort to restore the wetlands began after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. While herders can still find forage¹¹ for their buffalo, and water deep enough for the animals to wallow in, and fishermen still cast their nets, vast areas of the marshland remain dried, cracked mud.

恢复湿地的努力开始于美国领导的联军2003年攻入伊拉克之后。虽然牧民仍可以为水牛找到植物和芦苇，水也有足够深度，渔民仍可撒网捕鱼，然而，湿地仍有大片地段是干枯龟裂的泥块。留下来的人谋生艰难。

Fisherman Sayid Safaa says those who have stayed struggle to survive.

"The water is salty, our livestock died. We have to buy the water for our animals, spending 5,000 to 6,000 dinars a day, in addition to drinking water," he said. "All the fish in the marsh died. The water now is bad, all the families now are tired and frustrated¹² about where to go. Some of them left and others stayed and are trying to fix the tragedy."

湿地渔民赛义德·萨法说： “如今水是严重问题，家家户户疲惫不堪，不知到哪里去好。有些人家走了，有些留了下来，想改变悲剧。”

It is an environmental crisis that is evolving into a humanitarian¹³ one.

环境危机正在演变为人道危机。

1 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

2 spawning   

产卵

参考例句：

• Encounter sites have a small chance of spawning a "Commander" NPC. 遭遇战地区有很小的几率遇到NPC指挥官。
• Instantly revives your Champion at your Spawning Pool, 9 minute cooldown. 立即在出生地复活你的英雄，冷却时间9分钟。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

5 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

8 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

10 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

11 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

12 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。