國家地理:保護(hù)著海岸和生命的消失的森林(5)
The islands in India's Hugli River, in the Ganges estuary on the western edge of the Sundarbans region, illustrate advanced stages of the decay. At least three islands that a century ago were covered in mangroves -- Lohachahara, Suparibhanga, and Bedford -- have vanished. Others are eroding fast: Sagar Island has shrunk by about 20 square miles since the mid-20th century, even as its population has swollen with new arrivals from its disappearing neighbors. Crop-growing conditions on Sagar have deteriorated so much that residents now survive largely off seasonal labor elsewhere.
位于孫德本爾斯西部恒河流域的印度胡格里河的小島正體現(xiàn)著土壤退化的現(xiàn)狀。至少三個小島一個世紀(jì)以前還存在著，現(xiàn)在卻被紅樹林覆蓋--洛哈查哈拉、蘇帕利河和貝德福德--都已經(jīng)消失。其他小島的土壤侵蝕現(xiàn)象也在加快：從20世紀(jì)中期到現(xiàn)在，沙加島的面積縮減了約二十平方英里，即使鄰島消失帶來的遷入人口使這座島上的居民大量增加。沙加島的農(nóng)作物大量減產(chǎn)，居民不得不按季外出勞作以維生。
In some parts of the Sundarbans, the sea is advancing about 200 yards a year. "The people around the Sundarbans will lose a lot," said Tuhin Ghosh, an associate professor at Jadavpur University in Kolkata. "This is happening now." But even cities like Kolkata and Dhaka that lie some distance from the vanishing mangroves, he added, will find themselves "extremely exposed to cyclones and storm surges."
在孫德本爾斯的部分地區(qū)，海水每年會侵蝕大約200碼的陸地。加爾各答賈巴爾普爾大學(xué)的助教圖金·哈什表示：“孫德本爾斯的居民會遭受巨大損失。這樣的事情正在發(fā)生?！钡退闶羌訝柛鞔鸷瓦_(dá)卡這樣離消失的紅樹林較遠(yuǎn)的城市，他又說，也會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己被暴露在了颶風(fēng)和暴風(fēng)雨的影響范圍內(nèi)。
