剑桥雅思19Test3Passage2阅读原文翻译 The Global Importance of Wetlands 湿地的重要性
剑桥雅思19阅读第三套题目第二篇文章的主题为湿地的重要性。作者首先给出湿地的定义，随后转向介绍湿地对人类文明、保护环境的重要性，接着详细描述了湿地目前面临的各项挑战以及湿地消失会带来的危害，最终以保护湿地存在的困难收尾。整篇文章还算浅显易懂。下面是具体每个自然段的翻译。
剑桥雅思19Test3Passage2阅读原文翻译
段落A：
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil, for all or part of the year. These are complex ecosystems, rich in unique plant and animal life. But according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWFN), half of the world’s wetlands have disappeared since 1990 – converted or destroyed for commercial development, drainage schemes and the extraction of minerals and peat. Many of those that remain have been damaged by agricultural pesticides and fertilisers, industrial pollutants, and construction works.
湿地是指那些全年或部分时间土壤被水覆盖，或水分存在于土壤表层或近地表的地区。这些地区拥有复杂的生态系统，是许多独特动植物的栖息地。然而，据世界自然基金会（WWFN）指出，自1990年以来，全球已有一半的湿地消失，原因包括商业开发、排水工程以及矿产和泥炭的开采。现存的湿地也受到农药和化肥、工业污染以及各类建设活动的破坏。
段落B：
Throughout history, humans have gathered around wetlands, and their fertile ecosystems have played an important part in human development. Consequently, they are of considerable religious, historical and archaeological value to many communities around the world. ‘Wetlands directly support the livelihoods and well-being of millions of people,’ says Dr Matthew McCartney, principal researcher and hydrologist at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). ‘In many developing countries, large numbers of people are dependent on wetland agriculture for their livelihoods.’
在人类历史上，湿地一直是聚居的重要区域，其优渥的生态环境对人类文明的发展起到了关键作用。因此，湿地对许多社群来说具有重要的宗教、历史和考古价值。国际水资源管理研究所（IWMI）的首席研究员、水文学家马修·麦卡特尼博士表示：“湿地直接关系到数百万人的生计与福祉。在许多发展中国家，很多人依赖湿地农业来维持生活。”
段落C：
They also serve a crucial environmental purpose. ‘Wetlands are one of the key tools in mitigating climate change across the planet,’ says Pieter van Eijk, head of Climate Adaptation at Wetlands International (WI), pointing to their use as buffers that protect coastal areas from sea-level rise and extreme weather events such as hurricanes and flooding. This article is from Laokaoya website. Wetland coastal forests provide food and water, as well as shelter from storms, and WI and other agencies are working to restore those forests which have been lost. ‘It can be as simple as planting a few trees per hectare to create shade and substantially change a microclimate,’ he says. ‘Implementing climate change projects isn’t so much about money.’
它们还在维护环境方面发挥着至关重要的作用。湿地国际组织（Wetlands International，简称WI）气候适应部门负责人皮特·范·艾克（Pieter van Eijk）表示：“湿地是全球应对气候变化的重要工具之一。”他指出，湿地可以作为天然的缓冲区，保护沿海地区免受海平面上升以及飓风、洪水等极端天气的影响。沿海的湿地森林不仅提供食物和水源，还能在风暴来袭时提供庇护。WI和其他机构正在努力恢复那些已遭破坏的湿地森林。“有时候只需要在每公顷土地上种几棵树，就能创造阴凉，显著改变一个小气候环境，”他说，“应对气候变化，关键不在于投入多少钱。”
段落D：
The world’s wetlands are, unfortunately, rich sources for in-demand commodities, such as palm oil and pulpwood. Peatlands – wetlands with a waterlogged organic soil layer-are particularly targeted. When peatlands are drained for cultivation, they become net carbon emitters instead of active carbon stores, and, according to Marcel Silvius, head of Climate-smart Land-use at WI, this practice causes six per cent of all global carbon emissions. The clearance of peatlands for planting also increases the risk of forest fires, which release huge amounts of CO2. ‘We’re seeing huge peatland forests with extremely high biodiversity value being lost for a few decades of oil palm revenues,’ says Silvius.
然而，令人遗憾的是，世界上的湿地往往也是热门商品的来源地，比如棕榈油和纸浆林。泥炭地——一种富含有机质、经常积水的湿地——尤为容易成为目标。一旦泥炭地被排水用于耕作，它们就从碳储存地转变为碳排放源。据WI气候智慧型土地利用部门负责人马塞尔·西尔维乌斯（Marcel Silvius）介绍，这种做法约占全球碳排放总量的6%。此外，清理泥炭地以种植作物也大大增加了森林火灾的风险，而这些火灾会释放大量二氧化碳。“我们正目睹大片拥有极高生物多样性的泥炭森林，仅仅为了几十年的棕榈油收益而被毁灭，”西尔维乌斯说道。
段落E：
The damage starts when logging companies arrive to clear the trees. They dig ditches to enter the peat swamps by boat and then float the logs out the same way. These are then used to drain water out of the peatlands to allow for the planting of corn, oil palms or pulpwood trees. Once the water has drained away, bacteria and fungi then break down the carbon in the peat and turn it into CO2 and methane. Meanwhile, the remainder of the solid matter in the peat starts to move downwards, in a process known as subsidence. Peat comprises 90 per cent water,so this is one of the most alarming consequences of peatland clearances. ‘In the tropics, peat subsides at about four centimetres a year, so within half a century, very large landscapes on Sumatra and Borneo will become flooded as the peat drops below water level,’ says Silvius.‘It’s a huge catastrophe that’s in preparation. Some provinces will lose 40 per cent of their landmass.’
破坏从伐木公司进驻清理森林开始。他们先在泥炭沼泽中挖沟，以便船只进入，再通过这些水道将木材运出。随后，他们利用这些沟渠文章来自老烤鸭雅思将泥炭地的水排出，为种植玉米、油棕或纸浆林腾出空间。一旦水被排干，细菌和真菌就会分解泥炭中的碳，将其转化为二氧化碳和甲烷。与此同时，泥炭中剩余的固体物质开始下沉，这一过程被称为地面沉降。泥炭的含水量高达90%，因此地面沉降是泥炭地被清理后最令人担忧的后果之一。西尔维乌斯指出：“在热带地区，泥炭每年会沉降大约4厘米，因此在未来50年内，苏门答腊和加里曼丹岛上的大片地区将因泥炭层低于水面而被水淹没。这是一场正在酝酿中的巨大灾难。一些省份可能会失去40%的陆地面积。”
段落F：
And while these industries affect wetlands in ways that can easily be documented, Dr Dave Tickner of the WWFN believes that more subtle impacts can be even more devastating. ‘Sediment run-off and fertilisers can be pretty invisible,’says Tickner. ‘Over-extraction of water is equally invisible. You do get shock stories about rivers running red, or even catching fire, but there’sseldom one big impact that really hurts a wetland.’ Tickner does not blame anyone for deliberate damage, however. ‘I’ve worked on wetland issues for 20 years and have never met anybody who wanted to damage a wetland,’ he says. ‘It isn’t something that people generally set out to do. Quite often, the effects simply come from people trying to make a living.’
尽管一些产业对湿地的破坏很容易被记录下来，但世界自然基金会（WWFN）的戴夫·蒂克纳博士认为，那些更隐蔽的影响往往更具破坏力。“泥沙流失和化肥污染很难被察觉，”他说，“过度取水也是一样的道理。我们偶尔会听到一些耸人听闻的消息，比如河水变红，甚至着火，但真正让湿地受伤的，往往不是哪一次剧烈的冲击。”不过，蒂克纳并不认为有人故意破坏湿地。“我从事湿地保护工作已有二十年，从没遇到过哪个人是存心想毁掉湿地的，”他说，“很多时候，破坏只是人们为了生计而采取的行为带来的无心后果。”
段落G：
Silvius also acknowledges the importance of income generation.‘It’s not that we just want to restore the biodiversity of wetlands-which we do – but we recognise there’s a need to provide an income for local people.’This approach is supported by IWMI. ‘The idea is that people in a developing country will only protect wetlands if they value and profit from them,’ says McCartney. ‘For sustainability, it’s essential that local people are involved in wetland planning and decision making and have clear rights to use wetlands.’
西尔维乌斯也认可创收的重要性。“我们当然希望恢复湿地的生物多样性，但我们也明白，必须为当地人提供生计。”这种理念也得到了国际水资源管理研究所（IWMI）的支持。麦卡特尼表示：“在发展中国家，只有当人们从湿地中获得价值和收益时，他们才会愿意保护它。为了实现可持续发展，必须让当地居民参与湿地的规划与决策，并明确他们对湿地的使用权。”
段落H：
The fortunes of wetlands would be improved, Silvius suggests, if more governments recognised their long-term value. ‘Different governments have different attitudes,’ he says, and goes on to explain that some countries place a high priority on restoring wetlands, while others still deny the issue. McCartney is cautiously optimistic, however. ‘Awareness of the importance of wetlands is growing,’ he says. ‘It’s true that wetland degradation still continues at a rapid pace, but my impression is that things are slowly changing.’
西尔维乌斯指出，如果有更多政府意识到湿地的长远价值，湿地的状况将会有所改善。“各国政府的态度不一，”他说，有些国家已经将湿地修复置于优先位置，而另一些国家仍在回避这个问题。不过，麦卡特尼对此持谨慎乐观态度：“人们对湿地重要性的认知正在增强。虽然湿地退化的速度依旧很快，但我感觉事情正在慢慢发生变化。”
