2022年12月03日 VOA慢速英语：阻止火山爆发并不容易

 

Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano, is erupting again. Melted rock, called lava, from the volcano in the U.S. state of Hawaii is slowly moving toward roads and homes.
世界上最大的活火山莫纳罗亚火山再次喷发。来自美国夏威夷州火山的熔化岩石，称为熔岩，正缓慢地流向道路和房屋。
 
People are asking if anything can be done to stop or change the direction of the lava's flow. The volcano on Hilo, the biggest of the Hawaiian Islands, produces large amounts of lava when it erupts.
人们在问是否可以采取任何措施来阻止或改变熔岩的流动方向。夏威夷群岛中最大的希洛火山喷发时会产生大量熔岩。
 
Over the years, people have tried to slow the flow of lava from Hawaii's volcanoes using prayer, walls — even bombs.
多年来，人们一直试图通过祈祷、围墙甚至炸弹来减缓夏威夷火山熔岩的流动。

"Some people say ‘Build a wall' or ‘Board up' and other people say, ‘No don't!'" said Scott Rowland. He is a geologist at the University of Hawaii.
“有些人说‘建一堵墙’或‘登上’，其他人说，'不，不要！'”斯科特罗兰说。他是夏威夷大学的地质学家。
 
People have rarely had success stopping lava. Even with technological progress, stopping lava is difficult and dependent on the speed of the flow and the land. But many in Hawaii question whether anyone should test nature.
人们很少能成功阻止熔岩。即使有了技术进步，阻止熔岩也很困难，并且取决于流动速度和地面。但夏威夷的许多人质疑是否有人应该测试自然。
 
Attempts to divert lava have a long history in Hawaii.
转移熔岩的尝试在夏威夷由来已久。
 
In 1881, the governor of Hawaii Island called for a day of prayer to stop lava from Mauna Loa as it headed for the town of Hilo. But the lava kept coming.
1881 年，夏威夷岛总督呼吁举行一天的祈祷活动，以阻止熔岩从冒纳罗亚山流向希洛镇。但熔岩不断涌出。
 
The U.S. Geological Survey tells the story that Princess Regent Lili'uokalani and her department leaders went to Hilo and considered ways to save the town. They developed plans to build barriers to divert the flow and placed dynamite to drain the lava supply. They asked Pele, the Hawaiian god of lava and fire, to stop the flow. The flow stopped before the barriers were built.
美国地质调查局讲述了摄政王莉莉乌卡拉尼和她的部门领导前往希洛并考虑拯救小镇的方法的故事。他们制定了建造屏障以转移熔岩流并放置炸药以排出熔岩供应的计划。他们请求夏威夷熔岩与火神贝利阻止水流。水流在屏障建成之前就停止了。
 
More than 50 years later, Thomas A. Jaggar, the founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, asked the U.S. Army to send airplanes to bomb a Mauna Loa vent to disrupt the lava. A volcanic vent is a place on the Earth's surface where lava or gas can escape.
50 多年后，夏威夷火山观测站的创始人 Thomas A. Jaggar 要求美国陆军派飞机轰炸 Mauna Loa 喷口以扰乱熔岩。火山喷口是地球表面熔岩或气体可以逸出的地方。

The army dropped 20 bombs weighing 272 kilograms, the National Park Service documented at the time.
根据国家公园管理局当时的记录，军队投下了 20 枚重达 272 公斤的炸弹。
 
Jaggar said the bombing helped to stop the flow. But geologists today are doubtful. The lava flow did not end with the bombing. Instead, the flows slowed over the next few days and did not change paths.
贾加尔说，轰炸有助于阻止流动。但今天的地质学家对此表示怀疑。熔岩流并没有随着轰炸而结束。相反，在接下来的几天里，水流变慢了，并且没有改变路径。

Rowland said officials could build a large wall of broken rock to protect the highway on Hawaii Island. If the land is flat, then lava would build up behind the wall. But the lava may flow over it. That happened when something similar was attempted in Kapoho town in 1960.
罗兰说，官员们可以用碎石建造一堵大墙来保护夏威夷岛上的高速公路。如果土地是平坦的，那么熔岩会在墙后堆积。但是熔岩可能会流过它。当 1960 年在 Kapoho 镇尝试类似的事情时，就发生了这种情况。
 
Quickly moving lava flows, like those from Kilauea in 2018, would be more difficult to stop, Rowland said.
罗兰说，快速移动的熔岩流，就像 2018 年来自基拉韦厄火山的熔岩流，将更难阻止。
 
"It would have been really hard to build the walls fast enough for them," he said.
“要为它们建造足够快的墙真的很难，”他说。

He said he believes most people in Hawaii would not want to build a wall to protect the highway because it would "mess with Pele."
他说，他相信夏威夷的大多数人都不想建造一堵墙来保护高速公路，因为这会“惹恼贝利”。
 
Talmadge Magno is Hawaii County's director of civil defense. He said Wednesday the county has no current plans to try to divert the flow.
Talmadge Magno 是夏威夷县的民防主任。他周三表示，该县目前没有试图转移流量的计划。
 
Hawaii Governor David Ige was also governor during the 2018 Kilauea eruption. He told reporters his experience showed him it is not possible to overcome nature and Pele.
夏威夷州长大卫伊格在 2018 年基拉韦厄火山喷发期间也担任州长。他告诉记者，他的经历告诉他，战胜自然和贝利是不可能的。
 
Kealoha Pisciotta is a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner. She said thinking you should physically divert lava is a Western idea grounded in the thought that humans have to control everything.
Kealoha Pisciotta 是一位夏威夷原住民文化实践者。她说认为你应该用物理方法转移熔岩是一个西方的想法，基于人类必须控制一切的想法。
 
She said people need to change to the lava, not the other way around.
她说，人们需要转向熔岩，而不是相反。
 
"We are not separate from nature," she said. "We are a part of nature."
“我们与自然并没有分离，”她说。 “我们是大自然的一部分。”