2024年5月3日发(作者：)

4 聚焦荒漠治理

Desertification: What It Means

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荒漠化的后果

文/巴斯·弗朗桑 译/贺丛芝

By Bas Fransen

esertification is a silent, invisible,

and slow-burn crisis that is cur-

rently destabilizing livelihoods and com-

munities in over 100 countries. Much

like climate change, the impacts of de-

sertification are felt first-hand in specific

belts of the world. That said, the rest of

the world isn’t at all immune to the risks,

especially second-hand impacts such as

social destabilization, migration, food

security, and water scarcity.

2

In an age characterized mainly by

biting off more than we can chew on

several fronts, the pace of desertifica-

tion has increased nearly 35 times the

historical speed.

What is desertification?

3

The word itself might bring to mind

wind-swept sandy dunes, but, in reality,

desertification is a natural phenomenon

aggravated to the point that it severely

threatens the lives and livelihood of 200

million people worldwide.

4

Desertification is the process by

which fertile land becomes a desert due

to natural or human-made causes. The

2022·04 英语世界

D

荒

漠化是一种无声无形、

缓慢发展的危机，目前

影响着100多个国家人民的生

计和社会的稳定。就像气候变

化一样，荒漠化的影响在世界

上一些特定地区能够直接感受

到。但是，其他地区绝非免受

其害，尤其是社会不稳定、人

员流动、粮食安全和水资源短

缺等间接影响。

2

在这个很多方面都流行贪

多嚼不烂的时代，荒漠化的发

展速度已经比历史速度增长了

将近35倍。

什么是荒漠化？

3

这个词语本身可能会让人

联想到风成沙丘，但实际上，

荒漠化是一种不断恶化的自然

现象，如今已严重威胁全世界

2亿人的生活和生计。

4

荒漠化是自然因素或人为

原因导致肥沃土地变成沙漠的

过程。这个过程是自然产生的，

聚焦荒漠治理 5

process is natural, but the human causes

of desertification have vastly outpaced

its natural speed. This decline in bio-

logical productivity happens due to a

variety of causes, including:

Deforestation

Overgrazing

Climate change

Unsustainable agriculture

Irresponsible irrigation

Flooding and topsoil erosion

Soil pollution

Political and social instability

5

Desertification not only degrades

land in arid and sub-humid areas; it

also destroys dryland ecosystems that

already exist in deserts, shrublands, and

drylands. The rapid global urbaniza-

tion and land reclamation only serve

to aggravate both causes and effects of

desertification. Worse, it leaves us with

much less land to use for growing food,

which—in a world where 95% of nutri-

tious food comes from healthy soil—is

a dangerous situation to be in.

The risks of desertification

Pressures on food production systems

6

Worldwide desertification will have

catastrophic effects on food and agri-

cultural systems. As more and more

lands become infertile and unavailable

for agriculture, the pressures to produce

food faster and in higher volumes will

increase. Overexploitation of existing

lands is a given due to a lack of choice;

但是，人为活动造成的荒漠化

已经远远超过了它自然发生的

速度。由于以下种种原因，生

物生产力不断下降：

滥伐森林

过度放牧

气候变化

不可持续的农业

不负责任的灌溉

洪水和表土流失

土壤污染

政治和社会不稳定

5

荒漠化不仅会使干旱、亚

湿润地区的土地退化，还会破

坏沙漠、疏灌丛和旱地现存的

土地生态系统。全球城市化加

速及土地开垦从成因和后果两

方面都加剧荒漠化。更糟糕的

是，荒漠化使我们可用来种植

粮食的土地大大减少。世界上

95%的营养食物都产自健康的

土壤，鉴于此，这种情况十分

堪忧。

荒漠化的危害

粮食生产面临压力

6

全球荒漠化会对粮食和农

业系统造成灾难性的影响。越

来越多的土地变得贫瘠，无法

用于农业生产，粮食生产提速

增产的压力随之增加。没有足

够的土地，就必然会过度开垦

英语世界 2022·04

6 聚焦荒漠治理

there will likely also be a spike in the

use of chemicals, which will bring

down the quality of food produced.

Accelerated deforestation

7

While deforestation is one of the

significant causes of desertification, it

is also exacerbated by the process it

causes. When lands that were tradition-

ally viable for agriculture decrease in

usability, forests, and natural ecosys-

tems will be encroached into. Hectares

of forests will be torn down to make

space for agricultural land.

Increased social conflicts

8

In drought-prone and naturally dry

areas of the world, desertification has the

potential to wreak havoc on the peace

and stability of nations. Battles over land

and resources will blow up into full-scale

wars, much like what is already happen-

ing in parts of Asia and Africa that are

most vulnerable to the risks of desertifi-

cation and climate change. Drought and

land degradation can trigger a crisis that

is then exacerbated by uneven food dis-

tribution, lack of access to what is avail-

able, and existing poverty and strife.

Higher migration and social pressures

9

In a bid to move towards greener pas-

tures literally and figuratively, thousands

are displaced from their homes on the

daily. This mass migration could be inter-

nal or international; either way, the envir-

onmental and social structures in areas

that these migrants choose to settle in can

come under severe pressures. This further

2022·04 英语世界

现有土地，也有可能会大量使

用化学物质，从而降低粮食质

量。

滥伐森林加速

7

滥伐森林是荒漠化的一个

重要原因，又因其后果而加剧。

当传统上可用于农业生产的土

地可用性下降时，森林和自然

生态系统就会被侵占。大片的

森林将被破坏，改作农业用地。

社会冲突加剧

8

在易干旱及自然干旱地

区，荒漠化可能会对国家的和

平与稳定造成严重破坏。对土

地和资源的争夺会升级成全面

战争，就像亚洲和非洲一些地

区已经发生的情况一样。这些

地区最容易遭受荒漠化和气候

变化的危害。干旱和土地退化

会引发危机，而粮食分配不均、

可利用资源缺乏以及现有的贫

困和冲突又会加剧危机。

人员流动和社会压力倍增

9

为了迁往更加绿色的牧

场——不管是从字面意义还是

象征意义来说——每天都有成

千上万的人背井离乡。这种大

规模人员流动可能是在国内，

也可能是跨国。不管怎样，这

些移民选择定居的地方在环境

和社会结构方面都会面临巨大

压力。这进一步加剧冲突、不

聚焦荒漠治理 7

fans the flame of conflict, inequality, and

unsustainable living conditions.

Wider risks to public health

10

Dropping rates of food security will

increase the risks of starvation, malnutri-

tion, and hunger for millions around the

world. The rising heat from barren lands

and higher temperatures will increase

health hazards and infectious illnesses

such as dengue and malaria. Unclean wa-

ter and shortages will increase the chances

of water-borne diseases such as cholera

and dysentery. In short, desertification

poses massive challenges to public health

and has the potential to wreak havoc on

unsuspecting healthcare systems.

Desertification and climate change

11

Climate change has the potential to

exacerbate desertification, especially in

areas that are already vulnerable to shifts

in temperature, winds, and solar radia-

tion. The link between the two is a two-

way one in that both climate change and

desertification pose risks to each other.

Additionally, they also form a vicious

cycle in that the impact of desertification

increases the risks of climate change and

vice versa. The relationship is complex,

multi-layered, and still under study.

However, the known connections be-

tween the two phenomena are as follows:

Dry climates mean lower recovery from

droughts

12

Human-induced global warming

has wreaked havoc on climatic zones

平等以及生活环境的不可持

续。

公共卫生风险加大

10

粮食安全指数下降将使世

界上成百上千万人遭受饥饿、

营养不良、饥荒的风险加大。

贫瘠土地散发的热量上升，加

之气温升高，会扩大健康风险，

导致登革热、疟疾等传染病增

多。水源不干净、水资源短缺

会增加霍乱和痢疾等水媒疾病

的发生率。简而言之，荒漠化

对公共卫生构成巨大挑战，并

有可能压垮毫无风险意识的卫

生保健系统。

荒漠化与气候变化

11

气候变化有可能加剧荒漠

化，特别是在那些易受温度变

化、风和太阳辐射影响的地区。

这两者之间的关系是双向的，

气候变化和荒漠化相互构成危

害。不仅如此，它们还形成了

一种恶性循环，荒漠化造成的

影响加剧气候变化的危害，反

之亦然。这种关系是复杂且多

层次的，目前尚在研究。不过，

这两种现象之间已知的关联包

括以下几个方面：

气候干燥降低从干旱中恢复的

能力

12

人类活动引起的全球变暖

英语世界 2022·04

8 聚焦荒漠治理

such that dry climates have increased in

number and intensity, as have tradition-

ally polar climates. Unprecedented heat

waves and drying water bodies over-

whelm the vegetation’s ability to recover

from droughts, which results in irrevers-

ible degradation and desertification.

Increased rain leads to erosion and flood-

ing

13

The changing patterns of rain caused

by climate change also have much to

contribute to the process of desertifica-

tion. It must be noted that, while climate

change has increased the frequency of

rain, it has increased the intensity across

the world. As a result, low-moisture soil

tends to break up and get eroded when it

rains heavily, which accelerates the pro-

cess of desertification. Carbon emissions

and pollutants lead to acid rain, which

also decreases the quality of soil and

food produced.

Rising sea levels mean increased soil

salinity

14

Due to climate change, the seas and

oceans of the world have seen an unpre-

cedented rise in water levels, especially

in tropical and subtropical regions. At the

same time, rivers are running dry due to

a lack of rainfall—when coupled, these

two factors contribute to rising seawater

breaching freshwater areas inland. This

process has led to soil becoming more

saline and less fit for vegetation and this

contributes to its desertification in the

long run.

■

2022·04 英语世界

已经对多个气候带造成了严重

破坏，干燥气候的数量和强度

都在增加，传统的极地气候也

是如此。前所未有的酷热和水

体干涸抑制了植被从干旱中恢

复的能力，导致不可逆转的退

化和荒漠化。

降水增加导致水土流失和洪水

泛滥

13

气候变化引起降水模式改

变，对荒漠化进程也产生很大

影响。需要指出的是，气候变

化不仅增加了世界各地降水的

频率，同时也加大了降水强度。

结果，湿度低的土壤在大雨时

容易散落流失，致使荒漠化进

程加速。碳排放和污染物会导

致酸雨，这也会降低土壤及其

产出粮食的质量。

海平面上升加重土壤盐渍度

14

由于气候变化，全球海洋

水位出现前所未有的上升，尤

其是在热带和亚热带地区。与

此同时，因为降水量不足，河

流正在干涸。这两个因素综合

作用，海平面上升导致海水侵

入内陆淡水区域。这一过程导

致土壤盐分增加，越来越不适

合植被生长，长远来看，这会

造成荒漠化。

□

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”

翻译大赛获奖者）