海平面的上升平迫使历史悠久的农场巨变

Rising Seas Force Changes on Historic¹ Farms

Looking out the window of his Ford² truck, Bob Fitzgerald sees large, undesirable³ plants growing in the fields.

Visitors to his neighborhood in Princess Anne, Maryland mainly see dying⁴ forests and empty farmland.

Fitzgerald says the land has been in his family since the 17th century.

"I'd say in the next 20 years, you're going to lose a very high percentage of that land, that's going to be unfit to farm."

The land around the Chesapeake Bay has been sinking for hundreds of years. But climate change is making things worse. As sea levels rise, salt water is entering rivers and other waterways. As a result, the ground is becoming too salty for crops to grow.

Maryland's Eastern Shore is home to some of the oldest farms in North America. Fitzgerald's dates back to 1666. He says he has seen big changes during his life.

"You just can't believe how it's taking things over in the last 15 or 20 years. I can show you land around here that people raised tomatoes on when I was a little boy. And now it's gone."

Around the world, scientists warn that coastal⁵ farms are under threat from rising seas and salt water. A World Bank report estimates⁶ that rice production in coastal areas of Bangladesh may fall by 15 percent by the year 2050. Another study found that hundreds of millions of people will be forced to move inland because of rising waters.

Kate Tully wants to keep Eastern Shore farmers in business as the seas rise.

Tully is an agroecologist with the University of Maryland. She has seen the forests filled with pine trees killed by the increasingly⁷ salty soil. When she started looking at maps, she said, "I realized that a lot of the land…was farms.” She started talking to farmers and asking if this was an issue on farms.

It was, but "a lot of people hadn't really been talking about it" outside their own communities, she said.

The United States Department of Agriculture gave Tully and other researchers $1.1 million to study the problem. She and her team hope to give farmers ways to stay on their land. She told VOA they are testing different crops on pieces of land around the Eastern Shore.

"Sorghum⁸ is my new favorite crop because it can grow without rain and it can grow with lots of rain. So this is actually a pretty, looks like a pretty good option."

The grain crop may be a good choice to feed the nearly 600 million chickens raised in the area each year. As farmers know, chickens can deal with salt, dry weather conditions and heavy rains.

Tully's group is also testing other kinds of grain and a few crops that they believe can grow in the salt.

Yet just being able to grow a crop is not enough. The crop has to be profitable⁹. So an economist¹⁰ on the team will be looking at the numbers.

But continuing to farm the land may not be the best plan of action. Some people believe the land should be given back to nature. They say the fields should be turned into wetlands, which are popular with duck hunters.

"There's money in duck hunting," Tully said. Hunting organizations will pay farmers for a permit to hunt on their land. Farmers could earn a lot of money from duck hunters, she said.

Tully and her team are just getting started. It will be a few years before they really understand how to save the farms. They have proposals¹¹ for what will help communities that have been farming this land for hundreds of years.

"There's a lot of history there. And as these seas rise, some of that history is going underwater."

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

shore – n. the land along the edge of an area of water

tomato – n. a round, soft, red fruit that is eaten raw or cooked

agroecologist – n. one who is an expert in modern farm systems

sorghum – n. a type of grass that is grown for food

chicken – n. a bird that is raised by people for its eggs and meat

duck – n. any one of many different kinds of birds that swim and have a flat beak

1 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 undesirable   

adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子

参考例句：

• They are the undesirable elements among the employees.他们是雇员中的不良分子。
• Certain chemicals can induce undesirable changes in the nervous system.有些化学物质能在神经系统中引起不良变化。

4 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

5 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

6 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

8 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。

9 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

11 proposals   

n.提议( proposal的名词复数 )；推荐；求婚；赞成提案

参考例句：

• The director has given her assent to the proposals. 负责人已表示同意提案。
• The police gave the proposals their full backing. 警方对这些提案给予全力支持。