美国国家公共电台 NPR--Officials call the Pakistan floods that killed over 1,000 a climate nightmare

Officials call the Pakistan floods that killed over 1,000 a climate nightmare

Transcript¹

More than 1,000 people have died from widespread flooding in Pakistan. Officials are blaming climate change for the country's heaviest rains since the early 1960s.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Monsoon² rains are a normal part of life in South Asia, but the monsoon rains of recent days have not been normal at all.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A changing climate means changing storm patterns. And in Pakistan, the monsoon that normally brings life has taken it away. Widespread flooding has killed more than 1,000 people, many of them children.

FADEL: On the line to tell us more is NPR's international correspondent Diaa Hadid, who lives in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Good morning, Diaa.

DIAA HADID, BYLINE³: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So, Diaa, you've been reporting that Pakistan is facing its heaviest rains in decades. But these images we're seeing because of the flooding - they're just so devastating⁴. Can you describe what's going on on the ground?

HADID: Yeah. So there's multiple crisises happening at once. In the north, there's gushing⁵ rivers, and they're washing away dams and threatening to flood whole areas. They've already swept away bridges, homes, hotels and even people. There's devastating footage of men stranded⁶ on a rocky outcrop. And residents are shouting for help for them to be saved. But one by one, the water just takes them away. In the south, there's around 2 million acres of cropland that are now under water. And so are homes. People are sheltering on roads, railway tracks, in mosques⁷ and schools. And Pakistani aid workers who I speak to - like, they're pretty used to dealing⁸ with disasters, but even they say they're shocked. Yeah. So look. I spoke⁹ to a woman called Zoone Hasan, and she and her husband run an aid group called Thali. Have a listen.

ZOONE HASAN: I haven't seen this in the 20 years that I've been running this charity. I've never seen this sort of a calamity¹⁰. I've spoken to so many mothers who are actually crying because either they've lost their sons or their grandchildren.

FADEL: Wow. Either they've lost their sons or their grandchildren. And experts and officials are calling this a climate change disaster. It's being called a monster monsoon. If you could just lay out for us how different this is from regular heavy rains.

HADID: Yeah. So to understand how myself, I spoke to Ali Tauqeer Sheikh. He's an expert on the impacts of climate change in Pakistan. And this is what he had to say.

ALI TAUQEER SHEIKH: And in the recorded history that we have since 1918, we have never had this much of rain and the torrential rain.

HADID: So he's saying it's the heaviest rains in a century. But it's not just the rain that's the problem. There's a few disasters happening at once. So in Pakistan's far north, where the Himalayas are, there's a lot of glaciers¹¹, and they're melting faster than ever because of climate change. And that's swelling¹² up the rivers. And there's been unseasonably heavy rains up there, too. And then further down in southern Pakistan, as you noted¹³, like, the monsoon patterns have changed, and the rain is coming in places where it doesn't normally go. And so there was no preparedness this year. And there was also flash flooding. It's come in devastating quantities. And this rain might keep going till mid-September. The southern areas are already underwater, and now they're bracing¹⁴ for these swollen¹⁵ rivers to cascade¹⁶ down and hit them in a few days' time. Sheikh describes it like this.

SHEIKH: It's like fighting four wars, five wars at the same time. So this is very, very unprecedented¹⁷. And this is for the first time that a person like me can actually build them with a fair degree to climate change.

FADEL: So can Pakistan handle this alone? I mean, millions of people displaced, hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed, so many people lost.

HADID: Yeah, well, the Pakistani government says that it needs help. And there's a sense that they want rich Western countries to pay for climate-change-induced disasters. I mean, Pakistan is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, which Pakistanis have done very little to contribute to. Aid is coming in. But tomorrow, Pakistan will launch an appeal with the U.N., which they hope will accelerate donations.

FADEL: NPR's Diaa Hadid, thank you.

HADID: Thank you.

1 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。

2 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

3 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。

4 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。

5 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

7 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

8 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。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

11 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

12 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

15 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

16 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

17 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。