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  3. Freed by warming, waters once locked beneath ice are gnawing at coastal sett

Freed by warming, waters once locked beneath ice are gnawing at coastal sett

游客2024-01-02  24
问题     Freed by warming, waters once locked beneath ice are gnawing at coastal settlements around the Arctic Circle.
    In Bykovsky, a village of 457 residents at the tip of a fin-shaped peninsula on Russia’s northeast coast, the shoreline is collapsing, creeping closer and closer to houses and tanks of heating oil, at a rate of 15 to 18 feet, or 5 to 6 meters, a year. Eventually, homes will be lost as more ice melts each summer, and maybe all of Bykovsky, too.
    "It is practically all ice — permafrost — and it is thawing. " The 4 million Russian people who live north of the Arctic Circle are feeling the effects of warming in many ways. A changing climate presents new opportunities, but it also threatens their environment, the stability of their homes, and, for those whose traditions rely on the ice-bound wilderness, the preservation of their culture.
    A push to develop the North, quickened by the melting of the Arctic seas, carries its own rewards and dangers for people in the region. Discovery of vast petroleum fields in the Barents and Kara Seas has raised fears of catastrophic accidents as ships loaded with oil or liquefied gas churn through the fisheries off Scandinavia, headed for the eager markets of Europe and North America. Land that was untouched could be tainted by air and water pollution as generators, smokestacks and large vehicles sprout to support the growing energy industry.
    Coastal erosion is a problem in Alaska as well, forcing the United States to prepare to relocate several Inuit coastal villages at a projected cost of US $ 100 million or more for each one.
    Across the Arctic, indigenous tribes with cultural traditions shaped by centuries of living in extremes of cold and ice are noticing changes in weather and wildlife. They are trying to adapt, but it can be confounding.
    In Finnmark, the northernmost province of Norway, the Arctic landscape unfolds in late winter as an endless snowy plateau, silent but for the cries of the reindeer and the occasional whine of a snowmobile herding them.
    A changing Arctic is felt there, too, though in another way. "The reindeer are becoming unhappy," said Issat Eira, a 31-year-old reindeer herder.
    Few countries rival Norway when it comes to protecting the environment and preserving indigenous customs. The state has lavished its oil wealth on the region, and as a result Sami culture has enjoyed something of a renaissance.
    And yet no amount of government support can convince Eira that his livelihood, intractably entwined with the reindeer, is not about to change. Like a Texas cattleman he keeps the size of his herd secret. But he said warmer temperatures in fall and spring are melting the top layers of snow, which then refreeze as ice, making it harder for his reindeer to dig through to the lichen they eat.
    "The people who are making the decisions, they are living in the south and they are living in towns," said Eira, sitting beside a birch fire inside his lavvu, a home made of reindeer hides. "They don’t mark the change of weather. It is only people who live in nature and get resources from nature who mark it. "
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答案     气候变暖，原来压在冰层下面的水自由流动，正侵蚀着北极圈附近沿岸的居民点。
    毕考夫斯基村是一个有457口人的村庄，地处俄罗斯东北部沿海一个鳍形半岛的顶端。那里的海岸正在崩溃，离房屋和取暖用油的油罐越来越近，后撤的速度是每年15一18英尺，即5—6米。每年夏季，冰继续融化，最后家园将会消失，整个毕考夫斯基村可能也将不复存在。
    “几乎到处是冰——永冻土——现在却在融化。”生活在北极圈以北的400万俄罗斯人在许多方面感受到气候变暖的影响。气候变化带来新的机遇，但同时也威胁着他们的环境，威胁着他们家园的稳定，对那些以冰雪荒原为其传统之根基的人来说，也威胁着他们文化的生存。
    开发北方的步伐因北极海域的冰融化而加快。这对当地百姓来说，既会带来好处，也会带来危险。巴伦支海和喀拉海大油田的发现增加了人们对灾难性事故的恐惧，因为不断有满载石油或液化气的船只穿过斯堪的纳维亚半岛沿海的渔场，驶往望眼欲穿的欧洲和北美市场。随着发电机、大烟囱和大型运输工具不断涌现，以支持能源工业的发展，过去人迹罕见的地方可能会遭受空气和水污染。
    海岸的侵蚀在阿拉斯加也是一个问题，迫使美国准备将沿岸好几处因纽特人的村庄迁往他处，估计每迁一个村子要耗资一亿美元。
    在北极圈内，当地部落数百年来生活在严寒与冰雪之中，并形成了自己的文化传统。现在他们感受到气候和野生动物的变化，试图适应这种状况，但不知如何是好。
    在挪威最北边的芬马克省，北极风光在冬末展现出来，是一望无际的冰雪高原，一片寂静，只能听到驯鹿的叫声，和偶尔传来的放牧人摩托雪橇的嗡嗡声。
    北极的变化在这里也能感受到，不过方式不同。“驯鹿变得不如以前自在了，”31岁的养鹿人伊萨特?艾伊拉说。
    在保护环境和保存地方习俗方面，没有几个国家能与挪威相比。挪威把大量的石油收入用于这一地区，使得萨米文化仿佛经历了一场文艺复兴。
    然而不论政府给以多大的帮助，也无法使艾伊拉相信他那与驯鹿交织在一起的生活眼下不会发生变化。跟得克萨斯州的养牛人一样，他对他的牲畜数量保密。不过他说秋季和春季温度升高，将表层积雪融化，随后又冻成冰，这使他的驯鹿隔着冰层难以吃到地衣。
    艾伊拉说：“决策人都住在南边，住在城市里。他们不注意天气的变化。只有在大自然里讨生活的人才注意天气的变化。”他是坐在家里的火炉边说这番话的，火炉里烧的是桦木。他的家是用驯鹿皮搭成的，这种居所叫做“拉屋”。
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