由于分班考试和发烧等原因，家园学习停了两周，现在继续。

 

家园第七部分

01:00:03,266 --> 01:00:06,435

Water shortages(短缺)could affect（影响） nearly two billion people... before 2025. Yet water is still abundant（丰富的） in unspoiled（未损坏的） regions of the planet.

 

The wetlands.

 

These wetlands are crucial（重要的）to all life on Earth. They represent six percent of the planet. Marshes(沼泽) are sponges(海绵) that regulate(调节)the flow of water.

 

They absorb(吸收) it in the wet season...and release it in the dry season. The water runs off the mountain peaks(山顶), carrying with it the seeds of the regions it flows through.

 

This process gives birth to unique landscapes(地形),where the diversity(多样性)of species is unequaled（无比的） in its richness(丰富性).  Under the calm water lies a veritable（真正的）factory where this ultimately linked richness and diversity

Patiently(有耐心的) filters（过滤） the water and digests（消化） all the pollution.

 

Marshes(沼泽) are indispensable(不可缺少的) environments...

for the regeneration(再生) and purification(净化) of water.

 

These wetlands were always seen as unhealthy expanses（开阔地）,

 

unfit for human habitation（居住）. In our race to conquer more land, we have reclaimed（收复） them as pasture（牧场） for our livestock（牲畜）, or as land for agriculture or building.

 

In the last century, half of the world's marshes（沼泽）were drained（流干）. We know neither their richness(富饶) nor their role.

 

All living matter is linked. Water, air, soil, trees.The world's magic is right in front of our eyes. Trees breathe groundwater

into the atmosphere as light mist(薄雾).

 

They form a canopy(天蓬) that alleviates （减轻）the impact of heavy rains...and protects the soil from erosion (侵蚀).

 

The forests provide the humidity(湿度) that is necessary for life.

They are the mother and father of rain.  The forests store(储存) carbon. They contain more than all the Earth's atmosphere.

 

They are the cornerstone（基石） of the climatic（气候的） balance...on which we all depend.

 

Trees provide a habitat（栖息地）for three-quarters of the planet's biodiversity（生物多样性） that is to say, of all life on Earth.

Every year, we discover new species we had no idea existed insects, birds, mammals.

 

These forests provide the remedies(药方) that cure us. The substances(物质) secreted(隐藏) by these plants...can be recognized by our bodies.

 

Our cells talk the same language. We are of the same family.

Mangroves（红树林）are forests that step out onto the sea.

Like coral reefs, they are a nursery（托儿所）for the oceans.

 

Their roots entwine(盘绕) and form a shelter for the fish...

and mollusks(软体动物) that come to breed（繁殖）.

 

Mangroves (红树林） protect the coasts from hurricanes（飓风）,

Tidal（潮汐的） waves and erosion（侵蚀） by the sea. Whole peoples depend on them.  Yet, they were reduced by half during the 20th century.

 

One of the reasons for the ongoing disaster...is these shrimp(养虾) farms installed on the mangroves' rich waters.

 

Ventilators(鼓风机) aerate（吹） pools full of antibiotics（抗生素）...to prevent the asphyxiation(窒息) of the shrimps, not that of the mangroves(红树林).

 

Since the 1960s, deforestation（砍伐树林）has constantly gathered pace. Every year, 13 million hectares(公顷) of tropical forest

an area the size of Illinois- disappear in smoke and as lumber（伐木）. The world's largest rain forest, the Amazon, has already been reduced by 20%. The forest gives way to cattle ranches(养牛牧场) or soybean（大豆） farms. Ninety-five percent of these soybeans... are used to feed livestock（牲口）and poultry(家禽) in Europe and Asia.

 

And so, a forest is turned into meat. When they burn, forests and their soils...release huge quantities(数量) of carbon, accounting for 20% of the greenhouse gases（温室气体）

emitted (排放) across the globe.

 

Deforestation is one of the principal（主要的）causes of global warming. Thousands of species disappear forever. With them, one of the links in a long chain of evolution（进化）snaps(突变).

The intelligence（智能） of the living matter from which they came...is lost forever.

 

Barely 20 years ago, Borneo, the fourth-largest island in the world, was covered by a vast primary forest. At the current rate of deforestation, it will have totally disappeared within 10 years. Living matter bonds（捆绑在一起） water, air, earth and the sun.

 

In Borneo, this bond has been broken...in what was one of the Earth's greatest reservoirs（蓄水池）of biodiversity（生物多样性）.

 

This catastrophe(大灾难) was provoked(引起) by the decision...to produce palm oil(棕榈油), the most consumed oil in the world, on Borneo.

 

Palm oil not only caters(满足) to our growing demand for food,

but also cosmetics(化妆品), detergents(去污剂) and, increasingly, alternative fuels （替代性燃料）.

 

The forest diversity(多样性) was replaced by a single species- the oil palm. Monoculture(单一性作物) is easy, productive（多产的） and rapid（快速的）.

 

For local people, it provides employment. It is an agricultural industry. Another example of massive deforestation is the eucalyptus（桉树）.

 

Eucalyptus is used to make paper pulp(纸浆). Plantations are growing, as demand for paper has increased fivefold in 50 years.

Monocultures of trees are gaining ground(得到场所) all over the world.

 

But a monoculture is not a forest. By definition, there is little diversity. One forest does not replace another forest. At the foot of these eucalyptus trees, nothing grows, because their leaves form a bed...that is toxic（有毒的） for most other plants.

 

They grow quickly, but exhaust water reserves. Soybeans, palm oil, eucalyptus trees- Deforestation destroys the essential(本质)  

to produce the superfluous(生产过剩).  But elsewhere, deforestation is a last resort(手段) to survive. Over two billion people-almost a third of the world's populationstill depend on charcoal(木炭). In Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries,

charcoal is one of the population's main consumables消费品.