原文標(biāo)題：
Australian rivers
Death on the Darling
Climate change and mismanagement imperil Australia’s biggest river system
澳大利亞河流
達令河的死魚
氣候變化和管理不善使澳大利亞最大的河流系統(tǒng)面臨威脅

[Paragraph 1]

YABBIES, FRESHWATER lobsters native to Australia, thrive in the outback for a reason. They can tolerate high temperatures and drought, and need hardly any oxygen in their water.

雅比是澳大利亞本土的淡水龍蝦，它們能夠耐受高溫和干旱，水中含氧量低也能存活，因此它們可以在內(nèi)陸地區(qū)大量繁殖。

Yet even for them the Darling river, which snakes through western New South Wales, is proving uninhabitable. Swarms of yabbies were recently seen scrambling out of its murky water.

然而，即使對于它們來說，也已經(jīng)無法在達令河（流經(jīng)新南威爾士州西部）生存了。最近，有大批淡水龍蝦從渾濁的水中爬出來。

On March 17th the river was blanketed by millions of dead freshwater fish, herring, perch and cod, near the town of Menindee.

3月17日，在梅寧迪鎮(zhèn)附近，達令河里有數(shù)百萬條淡水死魚浮出水面，包括鯡魚、鱸魚和鮭魚。

Graeme McCrabb, a local, estimates the “l(fā)ine of dead fish” stretches over 100km. “It has an odour that’s pretty unique,” he says.
當(dāng)?shù)鼐用窀窭啄贰溈死脊烙?，“漂浮的死魚”長達100公里，“散發(fā)出一種非常獨特的臭味”。

[Paragraph 2]

The mass fish death is the latest illustration of how climate change is combining with mismanagement to blight Australia’s fragile environment.

大規(guī)模的魚類死亡事件是氣候變化與管理不善的最新體現(xiàn)，這些問題正在破壞澳大利亞脆弱的環(huán)境。

The Darling forms one arm of the Murray-Darling basin, a vast river system that covers much of Queensland and South Australia.

達令河是墨累－達令盆地的一條支流，這是一個覆蓋昆士蘭和南澳大利亞大部分地區(qū)的龐大水系。

It could hardly be more important—the system supports 40% of Australia’s agricultural production and breathes life into the vast, arid outback. But it is in desperate state.
這個水系的重要性不言而喻--它支撐著澳大利亞40%的農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)，并為廣闊而干燥的內(nèi)陸地區(qū)注入生命力。但是現(xiàn)在它處于非常糟糕的狀態(tài)。

[Paragraph 3]

Climate change is bringing more extreme heat and drought, which caused the previous “mass mortality” in the Darling river system in 2018 and 2019.

氣候變化帶來了更加極端的炎熱和干旱情況，這也是早在2018年和2019年達令河水系發(fā)生“大規(guī)模死亡”的原因。

Drought brought the river to a standstill, depleting its oxygen.

旱災(zāi)使河流成為一潭死水，水中氧氣被耗盡。

But the warming climate is also bringing more extreme precipitation and flooding, which is behind the latest die-off.
但溫暖的氣候也帶來了更加極端的降雨和洪水，這是最近魚類死亡事件的原因。

[Paragraph 4]

Eastern Australia has had three years of heavy rainfall.

澳大利亞東部連續(xù)3年遭遇強降雨。

This summer the Darling burst its banks, submerging towns and washing tonnes of chemicals and organic matter into the water.

今年夏天達令河決堤，淹沒了城鎮(zhèn)，將大量的化學(xué)物質(zhì)和有機物質(zhì)沖入水中。

That has caused bacteria to flourish, sapping oxygen from it, says Richard Kingsford, an ecologist at the University of New South Wales.

新南威爾士大學(xué)的生態(tài)學(xué)家理查德·金斯福德稱，這導(dǎo)致細菌大量繁殖，并耗盡了水中的氧氣。

A heatwave may have exacerbated this “blackwater event”, since warm water holds less oxygen.

熱浪可能加劇了這次“黑水事件”，因為溫水中的含氧量更少。

The many dams and weirs that line the Darling then made it hard or impossible for stricken fish to escape to healthier water.

許多沿達令河的水壩和堰壩使受災(zāi)的魚難以逃到更健康的水域。

So millions died; and their decomposition in turn drew more oxygen from the river, worsening the cycle.
因此數(shù)百萬條魚死亡，死魚分解反過來從河中吸取更多的氧氣，加劇了河流的污染。

[Paragraph 5]

Over-exploitation of the Murray-Darling’s waters has made the system especially vulnerable to such shocks.

澳大利亞的墨累-達令流域的水資源過度開發(fā)，使系統(tǒng)特別容易受到此類沖擊的影響。

Four states fight over them.A water-sharing initiative launched in 2012 was supposed to help conservation, yet there is little evidence that it has improved the basin’s health.

4個州在爭奪這些水資源。2012年推出的水資源共享計劃旨在幫助保護環(huán)境，但幾乎沒有證據(jù)表明它改善了流域的健康狀況。

For Robert McBride, who owns a vast sheep station near Menindee, the Darling is paying “the supreme sacrifice for total mismanagement of the river system”.

羅伯特·麥克布賴德在梅寧迪附近擁有一個廣闊的牧羊場，他說，達令河正在為“水系的全面管理失誤付出最大代價”。

After the recent deluge, water quotas were lifted so high that farmers could in theory drain some tributaries.

最近的洪水之后，水配額被提得很高，以至于理論上農(nóng)民可以將一些支流排干。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量457左右）
原文出自：2023年3月25日《The Economist》Asia版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
達令河Darling river位于澳大利亞東南部，為墨累河最長支流，同時也是墨累-達令河水系中的最長河流，源頭由大分水嶺新英格蘭山脈西麓的幾條溪流匯成，靠近新南威爾士-昆士蘭邊界，離東海岸不遠，向西南流經(jīng)新南威爾士州，于維多利亞州邊界上的文特沃斯(Wentworth)匯入墨累河，由最長支流算起，河流全長2844公里，流域面積609283平方公里。達令河上游部分河段為昆士蘭和新南威爾士二州界河，重要支流有右岸的巴朗河、沃里戈河等，水量季節(jié)變化大。伯克以下河段雨季可通航。沿河有多處水利灌溉設(shè)施。

水配額Water quota 可以指代在特定時間段內(nèi)一個人或一個社區(qū)允許使用的水量。這種限制通常是由政府或其他管理機構(gòu)設(shè)定的，旨在確?？沙掷m(xù)使用水資源并減少浪費。例如，政府可能會要求居民在每個月只使用特定數(shù)量的自來水，或者在干旱期間限制草坪灌溉的時間和頻率。此外，一些國家還通過向企業(yè)征收水資源稅等方式來鼓勵節(jié)水，促進可持續(xù)水資源管理。

【重點句子】（3?個）
The mass fish death is the latest illustration of how climate change is combining with mismanagement to blight Australia’s fragile environment.
大規(guī)模的魚類死亡事件是氣候變化與管理不善的最新體現(xiàn)，這些問題正在破壞澳大利亞脆弱的環(huán)境。

But the warming climate is also bringing more extreme precipitation and flooding, which is behind the latest die-off.
但溫暖的氣候也帶來了更加極端的降雨和洪水，這是最近魚類死亡事件的原因。

Over-exploitation of the Murray-Darling’s waters has made the system especially vulnerable to such shocks.
澳大利亞的墨累-達令流域的水資源過度開發(fā)，使系統(tǒng)特別容易受到此類沖擊的影響。