“地球之肺”在燃燒！巴西派軍隊赴亞馬孫雨林滅火

近日，被譽爲“地球之肺”的亞馬孫雨林着火了。亞馬孫雨林佔世界雨林面積的一半、全球森林面積的20%。當地時間8月23日，巴西總統博索納羅授權軍方參與亞馬孫雨林滅火。

根據歐盟發佈的衛星圖像，大火帶來的濃煙不僅覆蓋了巴西近一半的國土，還擴散到了鄰近的祕魯、玻利維亞以及巴拉圭諸國。大火對雨林內的動植物、土著居民都有非常大的影響。

Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops on Saturday prepared to deploy in the Amazon rainforest to fight fires that have swept the region and prompted anti-government protests as well as an international outcry.

週六（8月24日），在軍用飛機的協助下，巴西軍隊準備在亞馬孫雨林進行部署，以撲滅席捲該地區的大火。這場大火還引發了反政府抗議活動和國際社會的聲討。

Some 44,000 troops will be available for "uNPRecedented" operations to put out the fires, and forces are heading to six Brazilian states that asked for federal help to contain the blazes, Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo said. The states are Roraima, Rondonia, Tocantins, Para, Acre and Mato Grosso.

巴西國防部長費爾南多·阿澤維多表示，大約4.4萬名軍人將參加這次“前所未有的”滅火行動，並前往請求聯邦政府幫助控制火勢的六個州，分別是羅賴馬、隆多尼亞、託坎廷斯、帕拉、阿克和馬託格羅索。

The military's first mission will be the deployment of 700 troops to the area around Porto Velho, capital of Rondonia, Azevedo said. He added that the military will use two C-130 Hercules aircraft capable of dumping up to 3,170 gallons of water on fires.

阿澤維多說，軍方的首個任務將是向隆多尼亞州首府韋柳港附近部署700名軍人。他補充說，軍方將出動兩架C-130大力神運輸機，最多可向火災區域噴灑3170加侖的水。

An Associated Press journalist flying over the Porto Velho region Saturday morning reported hazy conditions and low visibility. On Friday, the reporter saw many already deforested areas that were burned, apparently by people clearing farmland, as well as a large column of smoke billowing from one fire.

週六上午，美聯社一名記者在飛經韋柳港地區上空時，報道稱那裏煙霧瀰漫，能見度低。週五，這名記者看到多處遭砍伐的林地着火，顯然是開荒所致，大火中還冒出滾滾濃煙。

billow ['bɪləʊ]：vi.翻騰

The Brazilian military operations came after widespread criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the crisis. The president Friday authorized the armed forces to get involved in putting out the fires, saying he is committed to protecting the Amazon region.

此前，外界普遍批評巴西總統雅伊爾·博索納羅處理這場危機的方式。博索納羅於週五（8月23日）授權軍方參與滅火，並稱他致力於保護亞馬孫雨林地區。

"It shows the concern of Bolsonaro's government about this issue," Azevedo said. "It was a very fast response."

阿澤維多說：“這顯示了博索納羅政府對火災的關注，反應非常迅速。

The defense minister noted US President Trump's offer in a tweet to help Brazil fight the fires, and said there had been no further contact on the matter. Bolsonaro has previously described rainforest protections as an obstacle to Brazil's economic development, sparring with critics who say the Amazon absorbs vast amounts of greenhouse gases and is crucial for efforts to contain climate change.

阿澤維多在推特上提到了美國總統特朗普幫助巴西滅火的提議，並表示未就此進行進一步接觸。博索納羅此前曾表示，亞馬孫雨林的保護是巴西經濟發展的障礙，而批評人士則認爲，亞馬孫雨林吸收了大量的溫室氣體，對遏制氣候變化至關重要。

The Amazon fires have become a global issue, escalating tensions between Brazil and European countries who believe Bolsonaro has neglected commitments to protect biodiversity. Protesters gathered outside Brazilian diplomatic missions in European and Latin American cities Friday, and demonstrators also marched in Brazil.

亞馬孫雨林大火已經成爲一個全球性問題，加劇了巴西和歐洲國家之間的緊張關係。一些歐洲國家認爲博索納羅忽視了保護生物多樣性的承諾。上週五，抗議者聚集在巴西駐歐洲和拉丁美洲一些城市的使領館外，示威者也在巴西遊行。

Conservationist Paul Rosolie told "CBS This Morning" that military action isn't enough and said the Amazon is at risk of "collapsing."

環保主義者保羅·羅索裏在接受《CBS今晨》節目採訪時表示，軍隊參與滅火還不夠，亞馬孫雨林正面臨“崩潰”的風險。

conservationist [kɒnsə'veɪʃ(ə)nɪst]：n.（自然環境、野生動植物等）保護主義者

"As we chop more of the rainforest down – and this has been going on for decades, this is not an isolated issue — as we chop more of the rainforest, what we're risking is reaching a tipping point, where that moisture system might be too dry to produce the rain. And then you have a serious problem on your hands, because you're talking about the entire Amazon sort of collapsing."

他說：“隨着我們砍伐更多的雨林，我們面臨的風險正達到一個臨界點，到那時，空氣可能過於乾燥，沒有降雨。砍伐雨林的問題已經持續了幾十年，這不是一個孤立的問題。之後人類就面臨着一個嚴重的問題，那就是整個亞馬孫雨林的崩潰。”

tipping point：臨界點，引爆點

The dispute spilled into the economic arena when French President Emmanuel Macron threatened to block a European Union trade deal with Brazil and several other South American countries. He wants G-7 leaders meeting at a summit in France this weekend to discuss the Amazon crisis.

當法國總統埃馬紐埃爾•馬克龍威脅要阻止歐盟與巴西和其他幾個南美國家達成一項貿易協定時，這場關於亞馬孫雨林滅火的爭端蔓延到了經濟領域。馬克龍希望七國集團領導人本週末在法國的峯會上討論亞馬孫雨林危機。

"First, we need to help Brazil and other countries put out these fires," Macron said Saturday.

馬克龍週六說：“首先，我們需要幫助巴西和其他國家撲滅大火。”

The goal is to "preserve this forest that we all need because it is a treasure of our biodiversity and our climate thanks to the oxygen that it emits and thanks to the carbon it absorbs," he said.

他說，我們的目標是“保護這片我們都需要的森林，因爲它是地球生物多樣性和氣候的寶藏，這要感謝它所排放的氧氣和吸收的碳。”

Bolivia and Paraguay have also struggled to contain fires that swept through woods and fields, in many cases set to clear land for farming. A US-based aircraft, the B747-400 SuperTanker, is flying over devastated areas in Bolivia to help put out the fires and protect forests.

玻利維亞和巴拉圭也在努力撲滅席捲森林和田野的大火，很多情況下大火是開荒導致。美國飛機波音747-400“超級油輪”正在玻利維亞受災地區上空幫助滅火和保護森林。

Fires are common in Brazil in the annual dry season, but they are much more widespread this year. Brazilian state experts reported nearly 77,000 wildfires across the country so far this year, up 85% over the same period in 2018.

火災在巴西每年的旱季都很常見，但今年更加來勢洶洶。巴西的專家報告稱，到目前爲止，今年巴西共發生了近7.7萬起野火，較2018年同期增長85%。