VOA常速英语2019--海平面上升威胁威尔士滨海小镇

Rising Sea Levels Threaten Welsh Seaside Town

The Welsh seaside town of Fairborn is a beautiful but low-lying town on the end of an estuary¹ in Wales

费尔伯恩是一个美丽但地势低洼的小镇，位处威尔士河口地区。 

And slowly but surely the water is rising.

该地海平面正在缓慢而稳定地上升。 

The slow advance of the ocean has led Welsh political leaders to recommend the town be decommissioned beginning in 2045 and for the town to disappear by 2050.

这让威尔士的领导者建议费尔伯恩居民从2045年开始疏散，到2050年该小镇完全消失。 

Local residents not surprisingly aren’t pleased with the idea.

当地居民显然对这个提议不满意。 

And through what’s been going on there with Gwynedd council saying that the they’re going to destroy our village in 2045 or 2055.

“鉴于现在的状况，圭内斯郡议会说将在2045或2055年摧毁我们的镇子， 

Well, why?

可是凭什么？ 

Come and show us your figures that you…you’re using to say the sea level is going to rise that quick in that amount of time.

给我们看看你们的数据…看看海平面是不是真的会上升这么快。” 

But scientists are worried that one way or another the ocean will take back Fairborn.

但科学家们担心，大海真的会以某种方式“夺回”费尔伯恩镇。 

The natural evolution of the coastline is very, very slow, but if we’re trying to hold the line against something that’s trying to fight against that essentially² when you do get a little weakness or will you perhaps get a really significant storm event, it causes changes very, very quickly and perhaps very, very catastrophically.

“海岸线的演变确实很缓慢，但是如果海洋本应淹没这里，而人类执意抵抗的话，那么当人类稍有不慎或当真正的风暴来袭时，海岸线就会发生巨变，并带来灾难性的后果。”

Real-estate values have plummeted³ and local residents say they’re not sure what to do in the meantime.

目前，当地房价暴跌，当地居民表示他们也不知道该怎么办。 

We feel uncomfortable being called the first climate refugee village.

“当听到我们被称为第一个气候难民村时，我们很难过。 

What we want is answers now.

现在我们就想要一个答案。 

We want to know if the sea wall breaches⁴ before 2045.

我们想知道2045年以前海堤是否会决堤， 

We want to know what’s gonna happen to us.

我们想知道会发生什么。” 

Answers are hard to come by, but political leaders say something has to be done or someone’s going to die when the water comes.

现在还很难给出答案，但政治领导者表示，在洪水来袭以前必须采取一些措施，否则将会有人丧命。

That’s the point where it becomes economically unviable, and an increased risk to life to maintain the defenses within Fairborn.

“如果真的发生洪水，当地会失去经济生存能力，同时对村民来说，也会增加他们抵御洪水时的风险。

So that’s why the report recommends the decommissioning starts from about 2045. Scientists say as climate change raises sea levels worldwide, more and more cities and towns near the ocean are going to have to deal with this problem.

因此，议会报告建议从2045年左右开始疏散村民。”科学家表示，由于全球海平面上升，越来越多的滨海城市和村庄都会面临相同的问题。

And while Fairborn residents aren’t pleased about becoming climate refugees, there are only a few thousand of the millions of people who expect to be displaced by rising sea levels over the next 50 years.

虽然费尔伯恩村民对此感到不满，但未来50年内，数百万滨海居民中可能只有几千人会由于海平面上升而流离失所。

1 estuary   

n.河口，江口

参考例句：

• We live near the Thames estuary.我们的住处靠近泰晤士河入海口。
• The ship has touched bottom.The estuary must be shallower than we thought.船搁浅了。这河口的水比我们想像的要浅。

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。