英译汉
Freed by warming, waters once locked beneath ice are gnawing at coastal settlements around the Arctic Circle. In Bykovsky, a village of 457 on Russia's northeast coast, the shoreline is collapsing, creeping closer and closer to houses and tanks of heating oil, at a rate of 15 to 18 feet a year. "It is practically all ice - permafrost - and it is thawing." For the four million people wholive north of the Arctic Circle, a changing climate presents new opportunities. But it also threatens their environment, their homes and, for those whose traditions rely on the ice-bound wilderness, the preservation of their culture.
A push to develop the North, quickened by the melting of the Arctic seas, carries its own rewards and dangers for people in the region. The discovery of vast petroleum fields in the Barents and Kara Seas has raised fears of catastrophic accidents as ships loaded with oil and,soon, liquefied gas churn through the fisheries off Scandinavia, headed to markets in Europe and North America. Land that was untouched could be tainted by pollution as generators, smokestacks and large vehicles sprout to support the growing energy industry.
Coastal erosion is a problem in Alaska as well, forcing the United States to prepare torelocate several Inuit villages at a projected cost of $100 million or more for each one. Across the Arctic, indigenous tribes with traditions shaped by centuries of living in extremes of cold and ice are noticing changes in weather and wildlife. They are trying to adapt,but it can be confounding.In Finnmark, Norway's northernmost province, the Arctic landscape unfolds in late winter as an endless snowy plateau, silent but for the cries of the reindeer and the occasional whine ofa snowmobile herding them.
A changing Arctic is felt there, too. "The reindeer are becoming unhappy," said Issat Eira,a 31-year-old reindeer herder. Few countries rival Norway when it comes to protecting the environment and preserving indigenous customs. The state has lavished its oil wealth on the region, and Sami culture hasenjoyed something of a renaissance.
And yet no amount of government support can convince Mr. Eira that his livelihood, intractably entwined with the reindeer, is not about to change. Like a Texas cattleman, he keepsthe size of his herd secret. But he said warmer temperatures in fall and spring were melting the top layers of snow, which then refreeze as ice, making it harder for his reindeer to dig throughto the lichen they eat. "The people who are making the decisions, they are living in the south and they are living in towns," said Mr. Eira, sitting inside his home made of reindeer hides. "They don't mark the change of weather. It is only people who live in nature and get resources from nature who mark it."
A push to develop the North, quickened by the melting of the Arctic seas, carries its own rewards and dangers for people in the region. The discovery of vast petroleum fields in the Barents and Kara Seas has raised fears of catastrophic accidents as ships loaded with oil and,soon, liquefied gas churn through the fisheries off Scandinavia, headed to markets in Europe and North America. Land that was untouched could be tainted by pollution as generators,smokestacks and large vehicles sprout to support the growing energy industry.
参考译文
随着全球变暖，海冰逐渐融化，海水水位上涨，侵蚀着北极圈附近的沿海居住区。 位于俄罗斯东北海岸的拜考夫斯凯村(Bykovsky)居住着 457 名村民，这里的海岸 线逐渐受到侵蚀，每年以 15 至 18 英尺的速度后退，日益逼近村舍和取暖用油桶。
“这里实际上是永冻层，全是冰，而现在冰层都在融化。”对于生活在北极圈以北的 400 万居民来说，气候变化带来了新机遇，但也对他们的生活环境和住所构成了威胁。很 多居民世代生活在冰天雪地的荒野里，形成了自己独特的文化习俗，气候变化给当地文 化保护工作也同样带来了威胁。 随着北冰洋海冰日渐融化，人们开始加速开发北极地区，这对于生活在极地的居民 来说利弊兼有。在巴伦支海和卡拉海地区发现了大型油田后，人们不禁担心，满载着石 油(不久后还会有液化气)的船只穿行斯堪的纳维亚沿岸的渔场前往欧洲和北美市场的 途中可能会发生灾难性事故。随着北极地区能源工业的蓬勃发展，发电厂、烟囱和大型 运输工具等配套设备、设施相继建立或出现，这片未被人类染指的净土也终将会受到污 染。 阿拉斯加也面临海岸线遭受侵蚀的问题。
对此，美国政府计划对因纽特人居住的几 个村庄进行迁移，每个村庄的迁移成本预计在 1 亿美元以上。 北极地区的土著部落几百年来都生活在冰封雪冻的极端自然环境里，形成了自己独 特的文化传统。现在，他们开始注意到天气和野生动物的变化，也在积极努力去适应气 候变化，但这又谈何容易。 在挪威最北端的芬马克省，冬末时节的北极地区是一望无际的雪域景象，万籁俱寂， 偶尔能听到驯鹿的嘶鸣声和养鹿人驾驶的雪地摩托发出的轰鸣声。
即使在这里也能感受到气候变化的影响。现年 31 岁的养鹿人埃拉说，“驯鹿越来越不 开心。” 挪威的环保工作和土著文化保护工作走在世界前列。挪威政府拿出相当部分的石油 收入用来保护这里的土著文化，萨米文化也由此迎来了复兴。 埃拉的生活与驯鹿已经密不可分。然而，他认为，无论政府投入多少资金用于土著 文化保护，他的生活方式也终将会发生变化。像德克萨斯州的牧场主一样，埃拉不愿透 露自己养了多少头驯鹿。
不过，他说春秋季节天气转暖使得雪地的上层融化，之后融化 的雪水(到了夏冬季节)再次结冰，驯鹿想要吃到底层的地衣就更不容易了。 “他们决策者都住在(北极圈)以南的城镇里，”埃拉坐在自己用鹿皮搭建的屋子里 说道，“观察不到气候的真实变化。只有生活在大自然里、以大自然为生的人才能体会得 到。”
