2022年11月08日 VOA慢速英語：衰落的美國著名鹽灘

 

The Bonneville Salt Flats is a famous area of white salt crystals in the American state of Utah. The area is so flat that on some days, people say they can see the curvature of the Earth.
邦納維爾鹽灘是美國猶他州著名的白色鹽晶體區(qū)。該地區(qū)非常平坦，以至于在某些日子里，人們說他們可以看到地球的曲率。
 
The area has served as a place for racers to set land speed world records and for filmmakers to make movies like Independence Day and The World's Fastest Indian.
該地區(qū)是賽車手創(chuàng)造陸地速度世界紀錄的地方，也是電影制作人制作獨立日和世界上最快的印第安人等電影的地方。
 
But the ground of the area is growing thinner and thinner. Those who love the area are demanding changes to save it.
但該地區(qū)的地面越來越薄。那些熱愛這個地區(qū)的人要求改變以拯救它。
 
Decline
衰退
 
In the last 60 years, the ground has become thinner by about one-third. And the area of the Salt Flats has shrunk to about half of its largest size in 1994.
在過去的 60 年里，地面已經變薄了大約三分之一。鹽灘的面積已經縮小到 1994 年最大面積的一半左右。
 
The Salt Flats has a special ground that keeps car tires cool at high speeds and provides a perfect surface for racing. But racers say it is difficult to find a space long enough to reach record speeds like they did many years ago. Recently, race organizers had to cancel "Speed Week" events scheduled for this autumn after the Salt Flats flooded and left racers without enough space to drive on.
Salt Flats 有一個特殊的地面，可以讓汽車輪胎在高速行駛時保持涼爽，并為賽車提供完美的表面。但賽車手表示，很難像多年前那樣找到足夠長的空間來達到創(chuàng)紀錄的速度。最近，在鹽灘泛濫并導致賽車手沒有足夠的空間繼續(xù)行駛之后，比賽組織者不得不取消原定于今年秋季舉行的“速度周”活動。
 
Research has shown that the salty water in the aquifer – the layer of rock or sand that holds water below the flats - is decreasing quickly.
研究表明，含水層中的咸水——在平底下保持水的巖石或沙層——正在迅速減少。
 
Scientists largely agree that years of aquifer use by nearby potash mining has been one cause behind the problem. Still, scientists say that there is no hard evidence that paying the mining company to return water to the area will solve the issue. This is because other human activities – such as taking other kinds of minerals and driving racecars – also have effects on the land.
科學家們在很大程度上同意附近鉀鹽開采多年使用含水層是導致問題的原因之一。盡管如此，科學家們表示，沒有確鑿的證據表明向礦業(yè)公司支付費用以將水返回該地區(qū)可以解決這個問題。這是因為其他人類活動——例如攝取其他種類的礦物和駕駛賽車——也會對土地產生影響。
 
Officials are paying for a new study as they try to find a solution. Researchers are trying to understand why the salt is decreasing and what can be done to stop it. Under a $1 million research project headed by the Utah Geographical Study, scientists are gathering information to understand the effects that climate change, racing and mining have on the Salt Flats.
官員們正在為一項新的研究付費，因為他們試圖找到解決方案。研究人員正試圖了解鹽分減少的原因以及可以采取哪些措施來阻止它。在猶他州地理研究所牽頭的一項耗資 100 萬美元的研究項目中，科學家們正在收集信息，以了解氣候變化、賽車和采礦對鹽灘的影響。
 
Debate
辯論
 
Dennis Sullivan is a car builder and racer who set a land speed record in his 1927 Model T car. His group, the Salt Flats Racing Association, believes the potash mining company that takes minerals from the flats is the main reason for the aquifer decline.
丹尼斯沙利文是一名汽車制造商和賽車手，他在 1927 年的 T 型車上創(chuàng)造了陸地速度記錄。他的組織鹽灘競賽協(xié)會認為，從鹽灘開采礦物的鉀鹽開采公司是含水層下降的主要原因。
 
But he and other racers blame the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the area.
但他和其他賽車手指責負責監(jiān)管該地區(qū)的美國土地管理局。
 
To save the area, Sullivan says, the U.S. government needs to find $50 million over 10 years to pay Intrepid Potash, the mining company, to pour salty water it has drawn from the land back onto the flats. He does not like seeing more time and money spent on research when, to him, the solution is clear.
沙利文說，為了拯救該地區(qū)，美國政府需要在 10 年內找到 5000 萬美元，以支付礦業(yè)公司 Intrepid Potash 將其從土地上抽取的咸水倒回公寓的費用。他不喜歡看到更多的時間和金錢花在研究上，而對他來說，解決方案是明確的。
 
"In the world I came from, you study something, you figure out what changes you need to make, you make the changes and then you go back and study it again to see if your changes had an effect on it," Sullivan said.
“在我來自的世界里，你研究一些東西，你找出你需要做出什么改變，你做出改變，然后你回去再次研究它，看看你的改變是否對它產生了影響，”沙利文說。
 
Although racers say the answer is clear, scientists believe that there is no hard evidence that simply returning salty water will reverse the bad effects on the Flats.
盡管賽車手說答案很明確，但科學家們認為，沒有確鑿的證據表明僅僅返回咸水就能扭轉對平原的不利影響。
 
A 2016 study found that the areas most likely to thin were places where races are organized. In simple terms, races might change how water flows through the ground, said Jeremiah Bernau of the Utah Geological Survey.
2016 年的一項研究發(fā)現，最有可能變薄的區(qū)域是組織比賽的地方。猶他州地質調查局的 Jeremiah Bernau 說，簡單來說，種族可能會改變水流經地面的方式。
 
"Every use is going to have some sort of" effect on the land, Bernau suggested. He added, "My work is trying to understand how is that working and what are the actions that we can do in terms of helping to preserve this landscape."
貝爾瑙建議，“每次使用都會對土地產生某種”影響。他補充說：“我的工作是試圖了解它是如何運作的，以及我們可以采取哪些行動來幫助保護這片景觀。”