开普敦将迎来有史以来最严重的火灾季

开普敦将迎来有史以来最严重的火灾季

Experts predict that Cape Town and surrounding areas in South Africa may experience their worst fire season as a result of the climate crisis and rising temperatures. Newlands, Hout Bay and Constantia are the areas most at risk.

专家预测，由于气候危机和气温上升，开普敦和南非周边地区可能经历最严重的火灾季节。纽兰兹、豪特湾和康斯坦蒂亚是最危险的地区。

Community-focused environmental non-profit, Parkscape explains that climate change is the biggest factor in the increase in fire risks.

以社区为中心的非盈利环保组织Parkscape解释说，气候变化是火灾风险增加的最大因素。

"Climate crisis is probably the most significant driver of the risk – longer and hotter summers, drier winters, and prolonged periods of drought.” says Parkscape Chairperson, Nicky Schmidt.

他说:“气候危机可能是造成这种风险的最主要原因，那就是夏季更长、更热、冬季更干燥和长期干旱。Parkscape主席尼基·施密特说。

Professor Coert Geldenhuys from Stellenbosch University's Forest and Wood Science Department, said that because of the drier conditions people and properties will be more at risk than the environment.

斯泰伦博斯大学森林和木材科学系的科尔特·盖尔登胡斯教授说，由于气候干燥，人们和财产将比环境更危险。

"We should be very concerned about this because you have many natural areas in Cape Town that are very dry and a lot of fynbos in certain areas."

“我们应该非常关注这一点，因为开普敦有很多自然区域非常干燥，在某些地区有很多FYNBO。”

"As the fire risks increase, our built environments are put in more danger. The Betty's Bay and Knysna fires of 2017 are key examples of the damage forest fires can do to the built environment."

“随着火灾风险的增加，我们的建筑环境处于更危险的境地。2017年贝蒂湾和Knysna大火是森林大火对建筑环境造成破坏的关键例子。”

Schmidt suggests that urban residents who live within five kilometres of wildland or natural areas need to become more fire-wise.

施密特建议，居住在距荒地或自然区5公里范围内的城市居民需要变得更加明智。

"Creating defensible spaces around homes is critical. And this includes managing landscaping so as to reduce fuel load, keeping trees away from a house, planting fire-wise plants, keeping gutters clean, keeping flammable material away from a house, having nearby water sources and avoiding having thatch roofs. People also need to be far more careful with braais and equipment that can cause sparks.” Schmidt added.

“在房屋周围建立防御空间至关重要。这包括管理景观，以减少燃料负荷，保持树木远离房屋，种植防火植物，保持排水沟清洁，保持易燃材料远离房屋，附近有水源，避免茅草屋顶。施密特还说：“人们还需要对布雷斯和能产生火花的设备更加小心。”

She said firefighting services and organisations and voluntary teams were well-equipped and well-trained to fight fires, however, their capacity was very much dependent on the size of the fires.

她说，消防部门、组织和志愿队装备精良，训练有素，能够扑灭火灾，但他们的能力在很大程度上取决于火灾规模。

"As we have seen with some of the big fires, local crews sometimes have to be supplemented with crews from elsewhere in the country."

“正如我们在一些大火灾中看到的那样，当地的救援人员有时必须依赖来自国内其他地方的救援人员的补充。”

"Local residents living in the wildland urban interface are likely less well-prepared, if prepared at all, to deal with fires.” she said.

她说：“居住在荒地和城市交界处的当地居民，可能准备不足，当然如果准备好了，那就去处理火灾吧。”