原文标题：Australian riversDeath on the DarlingClimate change and mismanagement imperil Australia’s biggest river system澳大利亚河流达令河的死鱼气候变化和管理不善使澳大利亚最大的河流系统面临威胁
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YABBIES, FRESHWATER lobsters native to Australia, thrive in the outback for a reason. They can tolerate high temperatures and drought, and need hardly any oxygen in their water.
雅比是澳大利亚本土的淡水龙虾，它们能够耐受高温和干旱，水中含氧量低也能存活，因此它们可以在内陆地区大量繁殖。
Yet even for them the Darling river, which snakes through western New South Wales, is proving uninhabitable. Swarms of yabbies were recently seen scrambling out ofits murkywater.
然而，即使对于它们来说，也已经无法在达令河（流经新南威尔士州西部）生存了。最近，有大批淡水龙虾从浑浊的水中爬出来。
On March 17th the river was blanketed by millions of dead freshwater fish, herring, perch and cod, near the town of Menindee.
3月17日，在梅宁迪镇附近，达令河里有数百万条淡水死鱼浮出水面，包括鲱鱼、鲈鱼和鲑鱼。
Graeme McCrabb, a local, estimates the “line of dead fish” stretches over 100km. “It has an odourthat’s pretty unique,” he says.当地居民格雷姆·麦克拉布估计，“漂浮的死鱼”长达100公里，“散发出一种非常独特的臭味”。
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The mass fish death is the latest illustration of how climate change is combining with mismanagement to blight Australia’s fragileenvironment.
大规模的鱼类死亡事件是气候变化与管理不善的最新体现，这些问题正在破坏澳大利亚脆弱的环境。
The Darling forms one arm of the Murray-Darling basin, a vast river system that covers much of Queensland and South Australia.
达令河是墨累－达令盆地的一条支流，这是一个覆盖昆士兰和南澳大利亚大部分地区的庞大水系。
It could hardly be more important—the system supports 40% of Australia’s agricultural production and breatheslife into the vast, arid outback. But it is in desperate state.这个水系的重要性不言而喻--它支撑着澳大利亚40%的农业生产，并为广阔而干燥的内陆地区注入生命力。但是现在它处于非常糟糕的状态。[Paragraph 3]
Climate change is bringing more extreme heat and drought, which caused the previous “mass mortality” in the Darling river system in 2018 and 2019.
气候变化带来了更加极端的炎热和干旱情况，这也是早在2018年和2019年达令河水系发生“大规模死亡”的原因。
Drought brought the river to a standstill, depleting its oxygen.
旱灾使河流成为一潭死水，水中氧气被耗尽。
But the warming climate is also bringing more extreme precipitationand flooding, which is behind the latest die-off.但温暖的气候也带来了更加极端的降雨和洪水，这是最近鱼类死亡事件的原因。
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Eastern Australia has had three years of heavy rainfall.
澳大利亚东部连续3年遭遇强降雨。
This summer the Darling burst its banks, submerging towns and washing tonnes of chemicals and organic matter into the water.
今年夏天达令河决堤，淹没了城镇，将大量的化学物质和有机物质冲入水中。
That has caused bacteria to flourish, sapping oxygen from it, says Richard Kingsford, an ecologist at the University of New South Wales.
新南威尔士大学的生态学家理查德·金斯福德称，这导致细菌大量繁殖，并耗尽了水中的氧气。
A heatwave may have exacerbated this “blackwater event”, since warm water holds less oxygen.
热浪可能加剧了这次“黑水事件”，因为温水中的含氧量更少。
The many dams and weirsthat line the Darling then made it hard or impossible for stricken fish to escape to healthier water.
许多沿达令河的水坝和堰坝使受灾的鱼难以逃到更健康的水域。
So millions died; and their decomposition in turn drew more oxygen from the river, worsening the cycle.因此数百万条鱼死亡，死鱼分解反过来从河中吸取更多的氧气，加剧了河流的污染。
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Over-exploitation of the Murray-Darling’s waters has made the system especially vulnerable to such shocks.
澳大利亚的墨累-达令流域的水资源过度开发，使系统特别容易受到此类冲击的影响。
Four states fight over them.A water-sharing initiative launched in 2012 was supposed to help conservation, yet there is little evidence that it has improved the basin’s health.
4个州在争夺这些水资源。2012年推出的水资源共享计划旨在帮助保护环境，但几乎没有证据表明它改善了流域的健康状况。
For Robert McBride, who owns a vast sheep station near Menindee, the Darling is paying “the supreme sacrifice for total mismanagement of the river system”.
罗伯特·麦克布赖德在梅宁迪附近拥有一个广阔的牧羊场，他说，达令河正在为“水系的全面管理失误付出最大代价”。
After the recent deluge,water quotas were lifted so high that farmers could in theory drain sometributaries.
最近的洪水之后，水配额被提得很高，以至于理论上农民可以将一些支流排干。
（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量457左右）原文出自：2023年3月25日《The Economist》Asia版块
精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路
本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene仅供个人英语学习交流使用。
【补充资料】（来自于网络）达令河Darling river位于澳大利亚东南部，为墨累河最长支流，同时也是墨累-达令河水系中的最长河流，源头由大分水岭新英格兰山脉西麓的几条溪流汇成，靠近新南威尔士-昆士兰边界，离东海岸不远，向西南流经新南威尔士州，于维多利亚州边界上的文特沃斯(Wentworth)汇入墨累河，由最长支流算起，河流全长2844公里，流域面积609283平方公里。达令河上游部分河段为昆士兰和新南威尔士二州界河，重要支流有右岸的巴朗河、沃里戈河等，水量季节变化大。伯克以下河段雨季可通航。沿河有多处水利灌溉设施。水配额Water quota可以指代在特定时间段内一个人或一个社区允许使用的水量。这种限制通常是由政府或其他管理机构设定的，旨在确保可持续使用水资源并减少浪费。例如，政府可能会要求居民在每个月只使用特定数量的自来水，或者在干旱期间限制草坪灌溉的时间和频率。此外，一些国家还通过向企业征收水资源税等方式来鼓励节水，促进可持续水资源管理。【重点句子】（3 个）The mass fish death is the latest illustration of how climate change is combining with mismanagement to blight Australia’s fragile environment.大规模的鱼类死亡事件是气候变化与管理不善的最新体现，这些问题正在破坏澳大利亚脆弱的环境。But the warming climate is also bringing more extreme precipitation and flooding, which is behind the latest die-off.但温暖的气候也带来了更加极端的降雨和洪水，这是最近鱼类死亡事件的原因。Over-exploitation of the Murray-Darling’s waters has made the system especially vulnerable to such shocks.澳大利亚的墨累-达令流域的水资源过度开发，使系统特别容易受到此类冲击的影响。
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