国家地理 保护着海岸和生命的消失的森林(5)

The islands in India's Hugli River, in the Ganges estuary¹ on the western edge of the Sundarbans region, illustrate² advanced stages of the decay. At least three islands that a century ago were covered in mangroves -- Lohachahara, Suparibhanga, and Bedford -- have vanished. Others are eroding³ fast: Sagar Island has shrunk by about 20 square miles since the mid-20th century, even as its population has swollen⁴ with new arrivals from its disappearing neighbors. Crop-growing conditions on Sagar have deteriorated⁵ so much that residents now survive largely off seasonal⁶ labor⁷ elsewhere.

位于孙德本尔斯西部恒河流域的印度胡格里河的小岛正体现着土壤退化的现状。至少三个小岛一个世纪以前还存在着，现在却被红树林覆盖--洛哈查哈拉、苏帕利河和贝德福德--都已经消失。其他小岛的土壤侵蚀现象也在加快：从20世纪中期到现在，沙加岛的面积缩减了约二十平方英里，即使邻岛消失带来的迁入人口使这座岛上的居民大量增加。沙加岛的农作物大量减产，居民不得不按季外出劳作以维生。

In some parts of the Sundarbans, the sea is advancing about 200 yards a year. "The people around the Sundarbans will lose a lot," said Tuhin Ghosh, an associate professor at Jadavpur University in Kolkata. "This is happening now." But even cities like Kolkata and Dhaka that lie some distance from the vanishing mangroves, he added, will find themselves "extremely exposed to cyclones⁸ and storm surges."

在孙德本尔斯的部分地区，海水每年会侵蚀大约200码的陆地。加尔各答贾巴尔普尔大学的助教图金·哈什表示：“孙德本尔斯的居民会遭受巨大损失。这样的事情正在发生。”但就算是加尔各答和达卡这样离消失的红树林较远的城市，他又说，也会发现自己被暴露在了飓风和暴风雨的影响范围内。

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 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

3 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

4 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。

5 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

6 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句