2022年11月08日 VOA慢速英语：衰落的美国著名盐滩

 

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.
邦纳维尔盐滩是美国犹他州著名的白色盐晶体区。该地区非常平坦，以至于在某些日子里，人们说他们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.
该地区是赛车手创造陆地速度世界纪录的地方，也是电影制作人制作独立日和世界上最快的印第安人等电影的地方。
 
But the ground of the area is growing thinner and thinner. Those who love the area are demanding changes to save it.
但该地区的地面越来越薄。那些热爱这个地区的人要求改变以拯救它。
 
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.
在过去的 60 年里，地面已经变薄了大约三分之一。盐滩的面积已经缩小到 1994 年最大面积的一半左右。
 
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 有一个特殊的地面，可以让汽车轮胎在高速行驶时保持凉爽，并为赛车提供完美的表面。但赛车手表示，很难像多年前那样找到足够长的空间来达到创纪录的速度。最近，在盐滩泛滥并导致赛车手没有足够的空间继续行驶之后，比赛组织者不得不取消原定于今年秋季举行的“速度周”活动。
 
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，含水层中的咸水——在平底下保持水的岩石或沙层——正在迅速减少。
 
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.
科学家们在很大程度上同意附近钾盐开采多年使用含水层是导致问题的原因之一。尽管如此，科学家们表示，没有确凿的证据表明向矿业公司支付费用以将水返回该地区可以解决这个问题。这是因为其他人类活动——例如摄取其他种类的矿物和驾驶赛车——也会对土地产生影响。
 
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.
官员们正在为一项新的研究付费，因为他们试图找到解决方案。研究人员正试图了解盐分减少的原因以及可以采取哪些措施来阻止它。在犹他州地理研究所牵头的一项耗资 100 万美元的研究项目中，科学家们正在收集信息，以了解气候变化、赛车和采矿对盐滩的影响。
 
Debate
辩论
 
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车制造商和赛车手，他在 1927 年的 T 型车上创造了陆地速度记录。他的组织盐滩竞赛协会认为，从盐滩开采矿物的钾盐开采公司是含水层下降的主要原因。
 
But he and other racers blame the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the area.
但他和其他赛车手指责负责监管该地区的美国土地管理局。
 
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.
沙利文说，为了拯救该地区，美国政府需要在 10 年内找到 5000 万美元，以支付矿业公司 Intrepid Potash 将其从土地上抽取的咸水倒回公寓的费用。他不喜欢看到更多的时间和金钱花在研究上，而对他来说，解决方案是明确的。
 
"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.
“在我来自的世界里，你研究一些东西，你找出你需要做出什么改变，你做出改变，然后你回去再次研究它，看看你的改变是否对它产生了影响，”沙利文说。
 
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.
尽管赛车手说答案很明确，但科学家们认为，没有确凿的证据表明仅仅返回咸水就能扭转对平原的不利影响。
 
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 年的一项研究发现，最有可能变薄的区域是组织比赛的地方。犹他州地质调查局的 Jeremiah Bernau 说，简单来说，种族可能会改变水流经地面的方式。
 
"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."
贝尔瑙建议，“每次使用都会对土地产生某种”影响。他补充说：“我的工作是试图了解它是如何运作的，以及我们可以采取哪些行动来帮助保护这片景观。”