战争,干旱威胁伊拉克沼泽地（在线收听）

战争,干旱威胁伊拉克沼泽地

Drought that has stretched for two decades means less fresh water flowing into the marshes. As water levels fall, salinity goes up, leading to fish kills. The lack of fresh water has also pushed Marsh Arabs who own livestock - mainly cows or buffalo - 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。淡水稀缺还迫使主要以养牛为生的“沼泽阿拉伯人”寻找其它水源。

Sure, there will be conflict between them and other tribes about natural resources and it will cause security problems,"

当然，“沼泽阿拉伯人”会和其他部落因自然资源而产生斗争，这会引起安全问题。

Nearly 20 years of drought, are complicated today by the advance of the self-declared Islamic State.

如今，将近20年的干旱问题却让自称是“伊斯兰国”的入侵而变得雪上加霜。

"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,"

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 militants the ability to flood cities or withhold water.

这给激进分子放水淹城或切断供水提供了机会。

An effort to restore the wetlands began after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. While herders can still find forage 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. Those who have stayed struggle to survive.

2003年，美国联军入侵伊拉克之后，人们开始了恢复湿地的工作。尽管牧民仍然可以为水牛找到饲料，水深也足够它们嘻嘻打滚，渔民依旧撒网捕鱼，然而，湿地的绝大部分地方仍然处于干枯决裂的状态。留下来的居民艰难为生。

The water now is bad, all the families now are tired and frustrated about where to go. Some of them left and others stayed and are trying to fix the tragedy."

如今，水是严重问题，家家户户疲惫不堪，不知到哪里去好。有些人远走他乡，那些留下来的人正在试图改变这一局面。

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

环境危机正在演变为人道主义危机。