国家地理-2008-08-23 沼泽国家公园

The Florida Everglades are home to alligators², dozens of bird species, beautiful flowers and exotic plants. It's easy to see what attracts people to these places. But Florida's population growth, coupled with farms that require a never-ending supply of pesticides³ and fertilizers, has put an enormous strain on the Everglades ecosystem⁴. So a restoration plan is underway to stabilize⁵ the Everglades and preserve the animals that live there. But the plan has proved to be controversial.

Craig Quirolo runs a nongovernmental organization called Reef Relief in Key West, Florida.

And that’s what really scares me about the Everglades Restoration Plan is that we will be continually inundated⁶, drought or no drought, with a lot of water. And I think if this water were clean, it wouldn't be so much of a problem. But we have a lot of nutrients⁷ in that water, a lot of pesticides. And I think there's a lot of stuff that we don't even know within that water. And that's sort of what scares a lot of people who are down there.

This is a sugarcane country. Pesticides and fertilizers from farms in Central Florida flow right through the Everglades and on to the Reef. And according to some critics, they are the principal reason the Everglades Restoration Plan won't work.

Juanita Green is the spokesperson for Friends of the Everglades.

“This is the biggest problem in the Everglades: the Everglades Agricultural Area. It's the major source of water pollution. It's the, it’s the big... a big dam between Lake Okeechobee and the rest of the natural Everglades.”

The Everglades Agricultural Area, or EAA, covers some 700,000 acres, 90% of it planted in sugarcane. Lake Okeechobee's waters irrigate⁸ farm fields here, then flow south through the Everglades and into the Keys.

Stuart Stein is a fourth-generation Florida farmer. And he vehemently⁹ rejects the idea that his farming methods damage the Everglades and the Reef.

“We will do everything that we can to help, restore and preserve the Everglades, you know. I enjoy going to the Everglades and I hope my kids have it. They’re gonna enjoy it too, along with agriculture.”

Bill Causey of the Florida Keys Marine¹⁰ Sanctuary¹¹ helped draft the plan to restore the Everglades. He agrees that the Reef is in trouble, but says no one factor can explain its decline.

“It won't do any good if we spend 7 or 8 hundred million dollars here in Florida Keys to improve our water quality, if in fact the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan has been put on the shelf because the waters coming down are still going to be polluted, and then they will enter our cleaner Florida Keys waters and then make the way to the Reef.”

Some environmental groups believe that the government could save the Everglades and the Coral Reef by buying the farms in Belle¹² Glade¹, shutting them down and donating the land to the park. But federal officials say that's not going to happen.

What we can't do is go back within time. We have to get the water right back into the system through the Comprehensive Restoration Plan.

For the millions of people each year who flock to the Keys to enjoy the Reef and the millions of fish that call the Reef home, for the farmers who've grown sugarcanes in central Florida for generations, and for the people who move to the state each day. That's exactly what this critical balancing act is all about: getting the water right.

 

1 glade   

n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地

参考例句：

• In the midst of a glade were several huts.林中的空地中间有几间小木屋。
• The family had their lunch in the glade.全家在林中的空地上吃了午饭。

2 alligators   

n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two alligators rest their snouts on the water's surface. 两只鳄鱼的大嘴栖息在水面上。 来自辞典例句
• In the movement of logs by water the lumber industry was greatly helped by alligators. 木材工业过去在水上运输木料时所十分倚重的就是鳄鱼。 来自辞典例句

3 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

6 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 irrigate   

vt.灌溉，修水利，冲洗伤口，使潮湿

参考例句：

• The farmer dug several trenches to irrigate the rice fields.这个农民挖了好几条沟以灌溉稻田。
• They have built canals to irrigate the desert.他们建造成水渠以灌溉沙漠。

9 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

10 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

12 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。