That Sinking Feeling Global Warming May Spell Doom for Island Nation
馬爾地夫將自地表消失？
NO.75 
 

 

CNN ANCHOR
With global warming apparently on the rise, the country of the Maldives worries its people could become climate change refugees.
CNN主播
全球暖化現象明顯愈來愈嚴重，馬爾地夫因此擔心其國民將淪為氣候變化的難民。
 
CNN ANCHOR
The Maldives, nearly 1,200 coral islands, sit only a few feet above sea level in the Indian Ocean, and as Seth Doane reports, they're in danger of disappearing.
CNN 主播
馬爾地夫由近一千兩百個珊瑚礁島組成，位於印度洋中，只比海平面高出幾英呎而已。根據賽斯•多安的報導，這個國家恐將面臨消失的命運。
 
SETH DOANE, CNN REPORTER
Shaahina, a scuba instructor, worries her son Nick won't ever see the coral reefs the same way she has. The Maldives is a nation of nearly 1,200 islands perched on coral reefs off the southern tip of India. The reefs attract divers and play a key role in the nation's two biggest industries—tourism and fishing. But some fear they are in danger...
CNN 特派員 賽斯•多安
莎赫娜是一名潛水教練，她擔心自己的兒子尼克以後再也無法目睹她所看到的珊瑚礁。馬爾地夫這個國家擁有近一千兩百個小島，全都立基於珊瑚礁上，散布在印度南端外海。這些珊瑚礁吸引許多潛水人士來到此地，在該國的兩大產業裡——觀光業和漁業——也扮演了關鍵性的角色。不過，有些人擔心珊瑚礁已經面臨危機……
 
SHAAHINA ALI, DIVE INSTRUCTOR
Normally when we were children, without diving you could just snorkel and see a lot of stuff—live coral, huge table coral—huge, massive—a lot of fish. But now, to swim on a reef-top you don't see that much.
潛水教練 莎赫娜•阿里
我們小時候，不必潛入水中，只要浮潛就可以看到很多東西——活珊瑚、巨大無比的桌面珊瑚，還有許多魚。現在就算游在珊瑚礁上方，也看不到那麼多東西。
 
SETH DOANE, CNN REPORTER
Coral is a living organism. While it's resilient, it thrives in certain temperatures. When El Nino weather conditions brought warmer water temperatures here a few years ago, many coral reefs were bleached. Some worry that global warming will have a much greater impact. These pictures from our dive show bleached coral on what once was a thriving reef. If the water stays warm, the bleached coral may die.
CNN 特派員 賽斯•多安
珊瑚是一種生物，雖然頗具韌性，卻只能存活在特定溫度之下。聖嬰現象在幾年前導致這裡的海水溫度升高，於是許多珊瑚礁都因此白化。有些人擔心全球暖化現象還會造成更大的衝擊。從我們潛水所拍到的這些畫面，可以看到原本生氣蓬勃的珊瑚礁上的珊瑚都已經白化了。水溫如果持續居高不下，這些漂白的珊瑚就可能會死亡。
 
Global climate change seems like such an abstract concept until you're down there diving, seeing the bleached coral first hand, imagining that impact multiplied many times around the world and potentially imagining it getting much worse. Saving the coral and acknowledging the threat of global warming is a priority for the president of the Maldives and his cabinet.
全球氣候變化平常聽起來只是個抽象概念，但當你潛入水中，親眼目睹這些被漂白的珊瑚，然後想像更巨大的影響發生在全球各地，而且愈來愈嚴重，你就能了解全球氣候變化是多麼真實的現象。拯救珊瑚以及承認全球暖化威脅的存在，是馬爾地夫總統及其內閣的首要任務。
 
The concern is that as polar ice caps melt, sea levels rise and threaten low-lying areas. The intergovernmental panel on climate change projects sea levels could rise up to 88 centimeters by the end of this century. For Maldivians, that's a frightening figure, as most of this country is not even two meters above sea level. And it may be the coral—natural rings of defense—that is being damaged first.
他們擔心極地冰帽一旦溶解，海平面會上升，對地勢低漥的區域造成威脅。各國政府組成的氣候變化小組預測，海平面在本世紀末將可能升高八十八公分。對馬爾地夫的人民而言，這個數據實在令人恐慌，因為馬爾地夫大部分的國土只比海平面高不到兩公尺。最先受害的可能會是珊瑚這種自然的防衛圈。
 
MOHAMAD HUSSAIN SHAREEF , CHIEF GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN
The long-term scenario or long-term fear is that the Maldives could very well be inundated completely and that we, as a people, may have to actually vacate these islands—this country—and move and hence, be termed "the world's first environmental refugees."
政府首要發言人 默罕瑪德•胡森•沙里夫
我們長期的預測，或者說長期的擔憂，便是馬爾地夫可能會完全遭到海水淹沒。如此一來，我們全國人民就真的必須撤離這些島嶼，撤離我們的國家，從而成為所謂的「世界上首批環境難民」。
 
SETH DOANE, CNN REPORTER
While the effects of global climate change are gradual, this nation may be among the first that is forced to deal with them.
CNN 特派員 賽斯•多安
全球氣候變化的影響雖然是漸進的，馬爾地夫卻可能是全球最早被迫必須面對這個問題的國家。