时代周刊:多国极端天气频发,敲响气候变化警钟(1)

Floods expose the West's hubris¹

洪水暴露了西方国家的傲慢

By Ciara Nugent

作者：席亚拉·纽金特

PIA NEGRO'S FAMILY HAS LIVED IN A CASTLE IN Erftstadt, in western Germany, for 300 years.

皮娅·内格罗的家族在德国西部埃夫斯塔特的一座城堡里生活了300年。

They have spent the past 30 years restoring it to its former glory.

他们花了30年的时间来恢复城堡以前的辉煌。

But they left it in minutes on July 15, evacuating² at around 4 a.m. as the worst floods to hit the country in centuries rushed toward their home.

然而，他们在7月15日的凌晨4点左右撤离，离开这里只花了几分钟的时间，因为德国几个世纪以来最严重洪水正向他们的家涌来。

"We couldn't bring anything—not the very old furniture, not even photos that are highly emotional, just our phones," says Negro, 32.

32岁的内格罗说：“我们什么都带不了——旧家具带不了，甚至连珍贵的照片也带不了，只能带一部手机。”

The castle's 40 inhabitants, including Negro's family and renters, had spent the previous day moving furniture to higher floors and went to bed that night once the rains had stopped.

城堡里的40个居民，包括内格罗的家人和租客，在前一天就把家具搬到了更高的楼层，雨一停他们就上床睡觉了。

But as they slept, muddy waters continued to rise in two nearby rivers.

然而，就在他们熟睡时附近两条河的浊水一直在上涨。

Soon after the residents evacuated³, the castle and surrounding village were submerged almost entirely⁴.

在居民撤离后不久，城堡和周围的村庄几乎全部被淹没。

What's left of the building remains⁵ inaccessible⁶, Negro says. "We are just in shock that something like that can happen to our home."

内格罗说，大楼里都是断壁残垣，依旧无法进入。“我们只是非常震惊这样的事情会发生在我们家。”

Accustomed to a mild climate rarely troubled by extremes of weather, many in northwestern Europe hadn't anticipated just how bad the floods would be.

欧洲西北部很少受极端天气的影响，那里的居民都习惯了温和的气候，他们没想到会发生这么严重的水灾。

From July 14 to July 15, as much as 7 in. of rain fell on parts of the western German states Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine–Westphalia—roughly double the normal rainfall for the whole of July—overwhelming riverbanks and sweeping⁷ away entire buildings.

从7月14日到7月15日，德国西部莱茵兰-普法尔茨州和北莱茵-威斯特法利亚州的部分地区降雨量达7英寸(约178mm)，几乎是整个7月正常降雨量的两倍。雨水淹没了河岸，冲垮了所有的建筑。

At least 170 people died in Germany and 31 in Belgium. Scores are missing.

德国至少有170人死亡，比利时有31人死亡。数十人失踪。

"The German language has no words, I think, for the devastation," German Chancellor⁸ Angela Merkel said as she surveyed the damage in Schuld, a village on the River Ahr.

德国总理安格拉·默克尔在调查阿尔河上舒德村的受灾情况时说，“我觉得德语里没有能够形容这场灾难的词语。”

It will need them. As a result of climate factors and a lack of resources, developing countries have long borne the brunt of extreme weather events.

以后会需要这种词的。长期以来，由于气候因素和资源匮乏，发展中国家一直是极端天气的主要受害国。

In Madagascar, for example, the worst drought in 40 years is currently driving 400,000 people into famine.

例如，在马达加斯加，40年来最严重的干旱导致40万人陷入饥荒。

But the summer of 2021 is showing us that nowhere is safe in the climate-crisis era.

但2021年的夏天告诉我们，在气候危机时代，没有任何地方是安全的。

In June, a village in western Canada briefly⁹ became one of the hottest places on earth—just before 90% of it was destroyed by a wildfire.

今年6月，加拿大西部的一个村庄一度成为地球上最热的地方之一——就在90%的土地被一场野火烧毁之前。

Days after the flooding in Europe, the Chinese province of Henan saw what officials called "once in 1,000 years" rain, which flooded subway tunnels and drowned commuters.

欧洲洪灾发生几天后，中国河南省遭遇了官方所说的“千年一遇”的大雨，地铁隧道被淹，乘客不幸殉难。

1 hubris   

n.傲慢，骄傲

参考例句：

• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。
• The very hubris of French claims alarmed the other powers.法国贪婪的胃口使其他大国惊恐不安。

2 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

3 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

9 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。