隨著水位上漲，人口減少，威尼斯的未來會怎樣?

隨著水位上漲，人口減少，威尼斯的未來會怎樣?

The lagoon city of Venice — a unique experiment nurtured by man and nature — suffered heavy damage in November as floodwaters reached their highest peaks in more than 50 years.

11月，威尼斯這座瀉湖城市—一項由人類與自然共同培育的獨特實驗室，遭受了嚴(yán)重的破壞，洪水達(dá)到了50多年來的最高水位。

But rising sea levels are not the only threat. As Venetians continue to leave their city, Venice risks becoming an empty shell sinking under mass tourism.

但海平面上升并不是唯一的威脅。隨著威尼斯人不斷地離開他們的城市，在大規(guī)模的旅游業(yè)下，威尼斯面臨著成為一個正在下沉的空殼的風(fēng)險。

Two weeks after the floods, St. Mark's Square resonates with a cacophony of languages — Spanish, Chinese and Russian. Awestruck visitors shriek and marvel as they take selfies in what Napoleon described as Europe's drawing room.

洪水過后兩周，圣馬可廣場上響起了西班牙語、漢語和俄語的嘈雜聲。游客們在拿破侖所說的“歐洲客廳”里自拍時，驚懼交加，驚叫不已。

But across the lagoon, Venetians are taking stock of the damage caused by a wave of exceptionally high tides known as "acqua alta" — high water.

但在瀉湖的另一邊，威尼斯人正在評估一波異常高漲的潮汐所造成的破壞。

Pellestrina is home mostly to fishermen. For centuries, this 7 1/2-mile-long barrierisland protected the Venetian lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. But on Nov. 12, a near-record high tide of more than 6 feet, combined with strong winds, made for a perfect storm and washed over Pellestrina's high embankments, flooding the island for a full day. Nearly everything on ground floors was destroyed.

佩萊斯特里納是漁民的家。幾個世紀(jì)以來，這個7.5英里長的屏障島保護著威尼斯瀉湖免受亞得里亞海的侵襲。但在11月12日，接近歷史最高紀(jì)錄的6英尺多高的潮水，加上強風(fēng)，形成了一場完美的風(fēng)暴，沖過了佩萊斯特里納的高堤，淹沒了全島一整天。地面上幾乎所有的東西都被摧毀了。

Along the waterfront, trash collectors load now-useless refrigerators and washing machines onto trucks.

沿著濱水區(qū)，垃圾清運員把現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)沒用的冰箱和洗衣機裝上卡車。

Fisherman Dino Vianello stares forlornly toward the lagoon, at what was once his shed on wooden pilings. For 40 years, he stored his nets there. Now his livelihood is gone.

漁夫迪諾·維亞內(nèi)洛孤孤單單地望著瀉湖，那里曾是他搭在木樁上的棚屋。40年來，他一直把漁網(wǎng)放在那里。現(xiàn)在他的生計全完了。

Nobody, he says, had ever seen waves nearly 7 feet high and the sea roiling inside homes.

他說，沒有人曾見過近7英尺高的海浪和海浪在房子里翻騰。

"The lagoon's ecosystem is unique," says Vianello, "the ancient Venetians who built the Republic of Venice worked in harmony with nature, not against it."

“瀉湖的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)是獨一無二的，” 維亞內(nèi)洛說，“建造威尼斯共和國的古代威尼斯人與自然和諧相處，而不是與之對抗。”

Many Venetians believe excavation of deep canals in the 1960s to accommodate oil tankers irreparably harmed the lagoon's delicate ecosystem. There's also widespread skepticism about a long-term project to build large, movable floodgates to hold back rising sea levels.

許多威尼斯人認(rèn)為，上世紀(jì)60年代為了容納油輪而開鑿的深運河不可挽回地?fù)p害了瀉湖脆弱的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。此外，人們普遍對建造大型可移動水閘以阻止海平面上升的長期項目持懷疑態(tài)度。

The project is called Mose, an Italian acronym, suggesting a parting of the waters. Still unfinished after 16 years and $5.5 billion in public funds, it has been plagued by corruption and won't be in operation for two more years.

這個項目被稱為摩西，這是一個意大利語的首字母縮寫，意為“水的分界”。經(jīng)過16年的建設(shè)和55億美元的公共資金投入，該項目仍未完工，一直深受腐敗困擾，未來兩年都不會投入使用。

Meanwhile, many residents of Venice feel ignored by local authorities.

與此同時，許多威尼斯居民覺得自己被當(dāng)?shù)卣鲆暳恕?/p>

In the central Castello District, master artisan Paolo Brandolisio — one of only four remaining makers of oars and oar posts for the city's legendary gondolas — is trying to put his workshop back in order. Brandolisio is trying to salvage his waterlogged oak worktable.

在卡斯泰洛市中心，工匠大師保羅•布蘭多里西奧正試圖讓自己的作坊恢復(fù)正常。布蘭多里西奧是威尼斯傳奇貢多拉上僅存的四名槳和槳桿制造商之一。布蘭多里西奧正試圖搶救他那張浸滿水的橡木工作臺。

"We've always managed on our own. In the last 40 or 50 years, city authorities didn't safeguard artisans' workshops," says Brandolisio. "If no one's left to make wooden boats, they'll disappear and be replaced by plastic ones."

“我們總是靠自己。在過去的四五十年里，城市當(dāng)局沒有保護工匠的作坊，” 布蘭多里西奧說。“如果沒有人留下來造木船，木船就會消失，取而代之的是塑料船。”

Brandolisio laments that most shops now sell Chinese-made souvenirs.

布蘭多里西奧感嘆道，現(xiàn)在大多數(shù)商店都在出售中國制造的紀(jì)念品。

"Shops for residents are vanishing because Venetians are vanishing," he says. "So those who are left are those making money selling the cheapest possible goods."

“面向居民的商店正在消失，因為威尼斯人正在消失，”他說。“所以剩下的就是那些靠賣最便宜的商品賺錢的人。”

Regardless of whether more people come, though, many Venetians fear there is a serious danger the prediction made by Lord Byron two centuries ago could come true:

然而，不管來的人是否更多，許多威尼斯人都擔(dān)心，兩個世紀(jì)前拜倫勛爵的預(yù)言有可能成真:

O Venice! Venice! when thy marble walls

威尼斯!威尼斯!當(dāng)你的大理石墻壁

Are level with the waters, there shall be?

與水是平的，是真的嗎?

A cry of nations o'er thy sunken halls,

在你沉沒的大廳里，民族的吶喊，

A loud lament along the sweeping sea!

一聲響亮的挽歌，沿著洶涌的大海!