VOA新闻杂志2024 巴拿马运河因水位下降限流（在线收听）

Panama Cuts Canal Traffic as Water Levels Drop

巴拿马运河因水位下降限流

Officials have ordered restrictions on shipping traffic in the Panama Canal because of reduced water levels.

由于水位下降，官员们下令限制巴拿马运河的航运。

The latest restrictions limit ship crossings through the canal by 36 percent. The Panama Canal is one of the world's busiest waterways, linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

最新的限制措施将通过运河的船只减少了36%。巴拿马运河是世界上最繁忙的水道之一，连接太平洋和大西洋。

Canal officials have estimated reduced water levels could cost them between $500 million and $700 million in 2024, The Associated Press reports. The losses are linked to tolls shipping companies must pay to pass through the Panama Canal.

据美联社报道，运河官员估计，2024年水位下降可能会使他们损失5到7亿美元。这些损失与航运公司通过巴拿马运河必须支付的通行费有关。

The Central American nation is experiencing drought, or extremely dry weather. The climate condition can slow traffic and reduce safety in the 80-kilometer canal.

中美洲国家正在经历干旱或极端干旱的天气。气候条件会减缓这条80公里运河上的航行，并降低安全性。

Panama Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez said the new restrictions reduce daily ship crossings to 24. The latest cut followed additional reductions last year. There were 38 crossings a day in normal times last year.

巴拿马运河管理局局长巴斯克斯表示，新的限制措施将每天的船只过境数量减少到24艘。最近的削减是在去年进一步削减之后进行的。去年正常时期每天有38艘船只过境。

Vásquez told the AP, "It's vital that the country sends a message that we're going to take this on and find a solution to this water problem." He added that in the first quarter of the fiscal year, the waterway saw a 20 percent reduction in goods and 791 fewer ships than during the same period the year before.

巴斯克斯告诉美联社，“最重要的是，国家发出一个信号，即我们将着手解决这一水问题。”他补充说，本财年第一季度与去年同期相比，通过该水道的货物减少了20%，船只减少了791艘。

Vásquez said the reductions were part of necessary control measures to make sure water levels remain high enough to permit at least 24 ships to pass daily. Officials are hoping the situation will improve in April, when the new rainy season starts.

巴斯克斯表示，这些减少是必要控制措施的一部分，以确保水位保持在足够高的水平，可以每天让至少有24艘船通过。官员们希望4月份新的雨季开始时情况会有所改善。

Weather experts blame the drought on climate change and the weather system called El Nino. El Nino is a warming of surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. This event usually causes hot, dry weather in Asia and Australia and can drive weather changes in other parts of the world.

气象专家将干旱归咎于气候变化和厄尔尼诺现象。厄尔尼诺现象是太平洋东部和中部海面温度的上升。这一事件通常会在亚洲和澳大利亚造成炎热干燥的天气，并可能导致世界其他地区的天气变化。

Vásquez warned that Panama must seek new water sources for both the canal's operations and drinking water. The same lakes that fill the canal also produce water for more than half of the country's 4 million people.

巴斯克斯警告说，巴拿马必须为运河的运营和饮用水寻找新的水源。填充运河的湖泊也为该国400万人口中的一半以上提供水源。

"The water problem is a national problem, not just of the canal," Vásquez said. "We have to address this issue across the entire country."

巴斯克斯说：“水问题是一个国家层面的问题，而不仅仅是运河的问题，我们必须在全国范围内解决这个问题。”

However, Vásquez told Reuters news agency he expects the waterway to meet its latest earnings targets, in part because of recent increases in tolls.

然而，巴斯克斯告诉路透社，他预计这条水道将实现最新的盈利目标，部分原因是最近通行费的上涨。