你可能从未听闻的全球环境危机

 　　From Cambodia to California industrial-scale sand mining is causing wildlife to die local trade to wither¹ and bridges to collapse². And booming urbanisation means the demand for this increasingly valuable resource is unlikely to let up

　　从柬埔寨到加里福利亚的工业砂开采正在导致野生动物死亡，当地贸易紧缩和桥梁坍塌。日益繁荣的城市化意味着对这种日加贵重的资源的需求不太可能停止。

　　Times are good for Fey Wei Dong. A genial³ middle-aged⁴ businessman based near Shanghai China Fey says he is raking in the equivalent of ￡180000 a year from trading in the humblest of commodities: sand.

　　时代益于冯卫东，一个来自中国上海附近的和善的中年商人。冯说他一年可从沙这种粗劣商品交易中敛利180000英镑。

　　你可能从未听闻的全球环境危机.png

　　Fey often works in a fishing village on Poyang Lake China’s biggest freshwater lake and a haven⁵ for millions of migratory⁶ birds and several endangered species. The village is little more than a tiny collection of ramshackle houses and battered⁷ wooden docks. It is dwarfed⁸ by a flotilla anchored just offshore⁹ of colossal¹⁰ dredges and barges¹¹ hulking metal flatboats with cranes jutting¹² from their decks. Fey comes here regularly to buy boatloads of raw sand dredged from Poyang’s bottom. He ships it 300 miles down the Yangtze River and resells it to builders in booming Shanghai who need it to make concrete.

　　冯经常去鄱阳湖边的一个渔村，鄱阳湖是中国最大的淡水湖和成千上万的候鸟以及许多濒危物种的天堂。这个村很小更像是破败的房屋和破木码头的小聚集地。和停在岸边的巨大船只相比，村庄显得特别渺小，那里停靠着巨型的采砂船和驳船以及装有起重机的笨重金属平底船。冯定期的来这里买成船的从鄱阳湖底开采的原沙。沿江向下船运300英里然后转售给在繁荣的上海需要沙来造混凝土的建筑商们。

　　The demand is voracious¹³. The global urbanisation boom is devouring¹⁴ colossal amounts of sand – the key ingredient of concrete and asphalt. Shanghai China’s financial centre has exploded in the last 20 years. The city has added 7 million new residents since 2000 raising its population to more than 23 million. In the last decade Shanghai has built more high-rises than there are in all of New York City as well as countless¹⁵ miles of roads and other infrastructure¹⁶. “My sand helped build Shanghai Pudong airport” Fey brags¹⁷.

　　需求旺盛的今天。全球城市化急速发展正在吞食海量的沙——这种沥青和混凝土的关键原料。中国的金融中心上海在近二十年中爆发式发展。这个城市从2000年以来增加了七百万居民，达到如今的二千三百多万。在过去十年上海建造的高楼比整个纽约市还多，以及无法度量长度的路和其他基础设施。冯自诩：“由我的沙子建造的上海浦东机场。”

　　Hundreds of dredgers may be on the lake on any given day some the size of tipped-over apartment buildings. The biggest can haul in as much as 10000 tonnes of sand an hour. A recent study estimates that 236m cubic metres of sand are taken out of the lake annually¹⁸. That makes Poyang the biggest sand mine on the planet far bigger than the three largest sand mines in the US combined. “I couldn’t believe it when we did the calculations” says David Shankman a University of Alabama geographer¹⁹ and one of the study’s authors.

　　任何一天，都有数以百计的采砂船在湖上作业，一些的如横放的公寓楼一样大小。最大的一小时能采集10000吨沙。最近研究估计每年有236兆立方米被挖出湖。这就使鄱阳湖成为世界上最大的采砂场，远比美国3大沙场合起来还大。亚拉巴马大学的地理学家以及该研究的作者之一的戴维山克曼说：“在统计的时候我都不敢相信。“

　　All that dredging researchers believe is a key reason why the lake’s water level has dropped dramatically in recent years. So much sand has been scooped²⁰ out says Shankman – 30 times more than the amount that flows in from tributary²¹ rivers – that the lake’s outflow channel has been drastically deepened and widened nearly doubling the amount of water that flows into the Yangtze. The lower water levels are translating into declines in water quality and supply to surrounding wetlands. It could be ruinous for the area’s inhabitants both animal and human.

　　采掘研究学者都认为上述情况是近年湖水面线显著下降重要原因。山克曼说30倍于支流沙量流入的量被开采，导致湖流出通道被大幅度的加深和加宽接近2倍于流入长江的径流量。低水面线导致周围湿地的水质和水供应日益下降。这可能对生存于该地区的动物和人造成毁灭性的影响。

1 wither   

vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡

参考例句：

• She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
• In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天，树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 genial   

adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的

参考例句：

• Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
• He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友，也是友善待客的主人。

4 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

5 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

6 migratory   

n.候鸟，迁移

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• This does not negate the idea of migratory aptitude.这并没有否定迁移能力这一概念。

7 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

8 dwarfed   

vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The old houses were dwarfed by the huge new tower blocks. 这些旧房子在新建的高楼大厦的映衬下显得十分矮小。
• The elephant dwarfed the tortoise. 那只乌龟跟那头象相比就显得很小。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

10 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

11 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。

12 jutting   

v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• The climbers rested on a sheltered ledge jutting out from the cliff. 登山者在悬崖的岩棚上休息。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldier saw a gun jutting out of some bushes. 那士兵看见丛林中有一枝枪伸出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 voracious   

adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• She's a voracious reader of all kinds of love stories.什么样的爱情故事她都百看不厌。
• Joseph Smith was a voracious book collector.约瑟夫·史密斯是个如饥似渴的藏书家。

14 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

15 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

16 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

17 brags   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He constantly brags about how well he plays football. 他老是吹嘘自己足球踢得多么好。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• \"I don't care to listen to your brags.\" \"我没有兴趣听你吹了！ 来自飘（部分）

18 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

19 geographer   

n.地理学者

参考例句：

• His grandfather is a geographer.他的祖父是一位地理学家。
• Li Siguang is a famous geographer.李四光是一位著名的地理学家。

20 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 tributary   

n.支流；纳贡国；adj.附庸的；辅助的；支流的

参考例句：

• There was a tributary road near the end of the village.村的尽头有条岔道。
• As the largest tributary of Jinsha river,Yalong river is abundant in hydropower resources.雅砻江是金沙江的最大支流，水力资源十分丰富。