美国国家公共电台 NPR--Shredded trees, dead dolphins and wildfires — how Russia's invasion is hurting nature

Shredded¹ trees, dead dolphins and wildfires — how Russia's invasion is hurting nature

Transcript²

ZHYTOMYR, Ukraine — When the fighter jet crashed into these northwestern Ukrainian woods, killing³ its 27-year-old pilot, splintering trees and spewing fuel, it tore a gash⁴ in the forest canopy⁵. Then it exploded. The wildfire that followed charred⁶ trees and earth, threatening two nearby villages.

Two months later, fire extinguished, the area still smells like jet fuel. Debris⁷ litters the ground. A jagged piece of metal, painted Ukrainian blue and yellow, rests between green shoots of grass growing through blackened leaves. Another shard⁸ juts⁹ from a tree some 20-feet above the ground.

"It's a catastrophe," says Viktor Radushinskiy, a member of the state forestry¹⁰ department.

One of many.

The State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine, a government agency, has documented more than 300 cases of what it calls "environmental crimes," carried out by Russia since its invasion began in late February. The actual number is believed to be closer to 1,500, it says, but many sites are still occupied by Russia or made inaccessible¹¹ by the fighting.

Fires at fuel depots¹². Blown-up reservoirs of dangerous chemicals. Damaged gas pipelines¹³. Disruptions and wildfires at the Chernobyl nuclear exclusion¹⁴ zone. Destroyed vessels¹⁵ in the Black Sea area. These are the most immediate¹⁶ concerns identified by the state agency.

But the environmental impacts of Russia's invasion may reach far beyond Ukraine's embattled borders.

Chemicals and bodies are poisoning waterways that feed the region's fertile farmland and supply drinking water. Warships¹⁷ are killing dolphins and explosions are disrupting bird migrations¹⁹. Long-range artillery²⁰ battles are pockmarking wildlife refuges with craters²¹. And there are concerns that the war and its fallout could hamper²² Europe, the Middle East and Russia's ability to combat wildfires in what's shaping up to be another devastating²³ year.

"This will affect people in the long-term," says Yevgeniy Medvedovskiy, the chief of the state department of environmental inspection²⁴ for the Zhytomyr region, as he looks at the burnt husks of fallen trees. "The atmosphere has no limits, no borders. This will affect everyone."

Environmental effects will last "long after the shells have stopped exploding"

Environmental damage like splintered trees and polluted waterways may seem like a secondary concern, given the atrocities²⁵ against people documented in places like Bucha and Mariupol, and the violence currently being inflicted²⁶ by Russia on residents in Ukraine's east.

But the war's effects on the environment will be felt "long after the shells have stopped exploding, long after the bullets and the guns have ceased," says Carroll Muffett, head of the nonprofit Center for International Environmental Law in Washington, D.C. Muffet is one of the lead authors of an open letter signed by hundreds of international law and environmental experts in March, warning about the long-term risks the conflict poses for Ukraine and Europe.

"When we talk about the environmental consequences of war, what we're really talking about is simply the impacts of war on humans and on the places where they live in another more protracted²⁷ and often more insidious²⁸ form," he says.

That fact isn't lost on Ukrainian authorities. The country has created a team of roughly 100 scientists, across 18 regional offices, who are tasked with documenting evidence of what it calls environmental war crimes.

In Zhytomyr, the task force's scientists are mostly women like Iryna Bereziuk, who monitored gas pipelines, industrial sites and air quality before Russia crossed the nearby Belarusian border in February. Now, they have to visit mine-littered woodlands, Russian-occupied areas and still-burning fuel depots to collect air, water and soil samples.

"Sometimes the smell is so strong, you can't even breathe," Bereziuk says in the laboratory she heads.

Each site is treated like a crime scene. Photos are taken. Interviews conducted. Samples collected. All of the evidence will be used, "to punish the aggressor in the international courts," says Oleksiy Obrizan, the task force's chairman.

There's little precedence in international courts for prosecuting²⁹ such crimes. A United Nations compensation commission set up after Iraq's 1991 invasion of Kuwait is the one example Ukrainian environmental advocates could reference. Scientists have advocated for strengthening international law to make it easier to hold countries accountable.

Last year, an independent panel of international lawyers launched an effort to better define ecocide — or as they put it, "unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused" — under the Rome Statute³⁰ of the International Criminal Court.

From his office in Kyiv, Obrizan says he knows prosecuting such crimes will be challenging in international courts, especially with Russia maintaining a seat on the U.N. Security Council — the body that established the commission following the Gulf³¹ War.

But he says collecting evidence of environmental war crimes is worth the effort. "These environmental problems are not just Ukraine's," he says. "They are the world's."

The war poses broader wildfire threats

One unexpected example of the war's broader environmental repercussions³² is how it's affecting the broader region's ability to respond to summer wildfires.

Last year, Western Europe, Turkey and northern Russia suffered devastating wildfire seasons. The Greek Isles³³ and woodlands around Athens were ravaged³⁴ by fire amid record heat waves.

"We're looking at the exact same pattern that we had last year," says Scott Dehnisch, the wildfire coordinator³⁵ for the U.S. Agency for International Development. "Very very hot and very very dry."

Western Europe's first heat wave of the summer is already fueling destructive wildfires in Spain and Germany. Temperatures are more than 10 degrees Celsius³⁶ (18 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than normal in some areas, a marker, meteorologists say, of climate change.

The problem, Dehnisch says, is that many of the firefighting aircraft typically used by Western Europe and the Middle East during fire season come from Russia. They're contracted out through the summer, he says. "And because of sanctions and those aircrafts unavailability due to the war, those are off the table now."

An effort is underway to fill that gap in Western Europe and around the Mediterranean³⁷ with U.S. and Canadian-based firefighting aircraft, Dehnisch says. But both countries have their own pressing needs, and backfilling aircraft in those regions does little to alleviate³⁸ the problem in the world's most-forested country: Russia, which typically relies on its military each fire season.

Siberia is already experiencing massive wildfires in Russia's forest-covered north. In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin took a break from his wartime musings to address the situation on Russian state media.

"We cannot allow a repeat of last year's situation, when forest fires were the most long-lasting and intensive of recent years," he said in a video message.

Wildfires in Siberia and the broader global Arctic have an outsize impact on the world's climate. Scientists believe nearly half of the world's peatland-stored carbon — carbon that's been locked away by permafrost and frigid³⁹ temperatures — is in the Arctic Circle. Wildfires unlock that carbon, releasing more greenhouse gases that worsen global warming. They also blanket snow and ice with black soot⁴⁰, making them melt faster.

"This war, outside of even just Ukraine, really has multiple, exponential layers of damage that it's doing," Dehnisch says.

The Black Sea's biodiversity is being threatened

On southern Ukraine's Black Sea coast, a small flock of seabirds sits on a shell-covered shoreline next to a still lagoon⁴¹.

Despite occupying less than 6% of Europe's landmass, Ukraine is home to 35% of its biodiversity. The country is home to thousands of rare plant and animal species and a critical resting spot for migratory⁴² birds like the curlew sandpiper, which come to Ukraine on their springtime journey from Africa to nesting grounds in Siberia.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February coincided with the springtime migration¹⁸. Fighter jets roared over nature refuges. Explosions boomed over the crashing waves of the Black Sea. Birds, susceptible⁴³ to sound, were scared away from their normal resting grounds, says Ivan Rusev, a Bulgarian-born environmentalist and ecologist at Tuzla Lagoons⁴⁴ National Nature Park.

Rusev has a broad smile and tanned skin. He wears a necklace adorned⁴⁵ with a diving bird, its wings locked on either side of its body in the shape of the Ukrainian trident. Growing up in a Soviet⁴⁶ town where the water was polluted by industry and the forests denuded⁴⁷, he says, he learned the value of protecting the natural world.

"We need to save biodiversity and help nature," he says. "And it will help us."

In 2010, Rusev helped create Tuzla Lagoons National Nature Park with its 18-mile sandbar to protect the ecosystem⁴⁸ from poaching and development. There are 55 national parks in Ukraine, Rusev says. Many of them, including the country's largest, the Black Sea Biosphere⁴⁹ Reserve near the city of Kherson are now under Russian control.

Others — even parts of this park — he says, are now being used by the Ukrainian military to prevent future Russian advances.

A short drive from the park's headquarters, past a string of anti-tank mines hidden in the tall grass, Iryna Vykhrystyuk, the director of Tuzla Lagoons National Nature Park, walks on the white sand of Ukraine's Black Sea Coast.

Parts of this national park were bombed in the first month of the war, she says. Explosions are still regularly heard offshore⁵⁰, generally in the direction of Snake Island. Dolphins, confused and run ashore⁵¹ by the low-frequency radar⁵² used by Russian submarines and warships, are commonly found decaying on the beach.

"Normally this place is like heaven," Vykhrystyuk says, as small waves roll over the beach. It has the most amazing sunrises and sunsets. The dark skies and starscapes attract photographers from around Ukraine and the world.

Now, the beach is empty.

When Ukraine wins the war — not if — Vykhrystyuk says, looking out to the sea, she hopes people will return.

Hopefully, she says, it will help them heal.

1 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 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。

4 gash   

v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝

参考例句：

• The deep gash in his arm would take weeks to heal over.他胳膊上的割伤很深，需要几个星期的时间才能痊愈。
• After the collision,the body of the ship had a big gash.船被撞后，船身裂开了一个大口子。

5 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

6 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

8 shard   

n.（陶瓷器、瓦等的）破片，碎片

参考例句：

• Eyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air.目击者称空中石块和玻璃碎片四溅。
• That's the same stuff we found in the shard.那与我们发现的碎片在材质上一样。

9 juts   

v.（使）突出( jut的第三人称单数 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• A small section of rock juts out into the harbour. 山岩的一小角突入港湾。 来自辞典例句
• The balcony juts out over the swimming pool. 阳台伸出在游泳池上方。 来自辞典例句

10 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

11 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

12 depots   

仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。
• In the coastal cities are equipped with after-sales service and depots. 在各沿海城市均设有服务部及售后维修站。

13 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

14 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

15 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 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。

17 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

18 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

19 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

20 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

21 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

22 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

23 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

24 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

25 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

26 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

27 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 insidious   

adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧

参考例句：

• That insidious man bad-mouthed me to almost everyone else.那个阴险的家伙几乎见人便说我的坏话。
• Organized crime has an insidious influence on all who come into contact with it.所有和集团犯罪有关的人都会不知不觉地受坏影响。

29 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

30 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

31 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。

32 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

33 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

34 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

35 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

36 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

37 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

38 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

39 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

40 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

41 lagoon   

n.泻湖，咸水湖

参考例句：

• The lagoon was pullulated with tropical fish.那个咸水湖聚满了热带鱼。
• This area isolates a restricted lagoon environment.将这一地区隔离起来使形成一个封闭的泻湖环境。

42 migratory   

n.候鸟，迁移

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• This does not negate the idea of migratory aptitude.这并没有否定迁移能力这一概念。

43 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

44 lagoons   

n.污水池( lagoon的名词复数 )；潟湖；（大湖或江河附近的）小而浅的淡水湖；温泉形成的池塘

参考例句：

• The Islands are by shallow crystal clear lagoons enclosed by coral reefs. 该群岛包围由珊瑚礁封闭的浅水清澈泻湖。 来自互联网
• It is deposited in low-energy environments in lakes, estuaries and lagoons. 它沉淀于湖泊、河口和礁湖的低能量环境中，也可于沉淀于深海环境。 来自互联网

45 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

46 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

47 denuded   

adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物

参考例句：

• hillsides denuded of trees 光秃秃没有树的山坡
• In such areas we see villages denuded of young people. 在这些地区，我们在村子里根本看不到年轻人。 来自辞典例句

48 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

49 biosphere   

n.生命层，生物圈

参考例句：

• The entire biosphere was becoming more transparent.整个生物圈越来越透明。
• The impact of modern technology on the biosphere is evident worldwide.现代技术对生物圈的影响在全世界是明显的。

50 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

51 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

52 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。