泰国遭遇几十年来最严重的干旱，供水枯竭

泰国遭遇几十年来最严重的干旱，供水枯竭

A shorter-than-normal monsoon, below-average rainfall, and El Nino condition leading to abnormally high temperatures drove Thailand to its worst drought in more than 40 years.

一场短于往年的季风，低于平均水平的降雨量，以及导致反常高温的厄尔尼诺现象，使泰国遭遇了40多年来最严重的干旱。

A map released by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observatory on February 15, 2020 showed below-normal subsurface soil moisture in large parts of southeast Asia. Lower Mekong Basin countries, including Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were all affected by a delayed and short monsoon, according to the Mekong River Commission. But Thailand was the worst hit. An El Nino event also led to increased temperatures and high evapotranspiration in the region.

美国国家航空航天局(NASA)于2020年2月15日发布的一份地图显示，东南亚大部分地区的地下土壤湿度低于正常水平。湄公河委员会表示，包括老挝、柬埔寨和越南在内的湄公河下游国家都受到了季风推迟和短暂影响。但泰国受到的打击最为严重。厄尔尼诺事件也导致该地区气温升高和高蒸散发。

NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission measures water content of soils and can detect water in the top five centimeters of the ground.

美国宇航局的土壤水分主动被动(SMAP)任务测量土壤的含水量，可以探测到地面顶部5厘米的水。

The drought has exhausted the southeast Asian country's major reservoirs, which held less than half the water they could. River water levels were so low that salt water from seas entered them, affecting drinking water supplies. Low-lying areas have been the worst-affected by salt water intrusion.

干旱已经耗尽了这个东南亚国家的主要水库，这些水库只储存了不到一半的水。河水水位很低，海水灌入，影响了饮用水供应。低洼地区是受海水入侵影响最严重的地区。

“This is one of the signs showing the drought situation in low-lying areas in Thailand this year is worse than before,” said Senaka Basnayake, director of Climate Resilience at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Thailand.

泰国亚洲灾害准备中心的气候恢复主任Senaka Basnayake说:“这是今年泰国低洼地区的干旱情况比以前更严重的迹象之一。”

The drought has pressured Thailand’s economy, which employs over 11 million people in farming and crop production. The country, one of the world’s leading sugar exporters, was expected to produce 30 per cent less sugar than previous years.

干旱给泰国经济带来了压力。泰国有超过1100万人从事农业和农作物生产。作为全球主要的食糖出口国之一，中国的食糖产量预计将比前几年减少30%。

Other Lower Mekong Basin countries were also bracing for the worst. The Mekong Delta in southwest Vietnam received about 8 per cent less precipitation last monsoon, according to the country's agriculture ministry. The Earth Observatory reported that saltwater intrusion has started damaging rice fields in Trá Vinh. More than 10,000 hectares of winter-spring rice have been affected by water shortage in the province. If such conditions prevailed, about 94,000 hectares could be affected.

湄公河下游的其他国家也在做最坏的打算。越南农业部表示，去年雨季，该国西南部的湄公河三角洲降水量减少了约8%。地球天文台报告说，盐水入侵已经开始破坏特拉温的稻田。该省超过1万公顷的冬春稻受到缺水的影响。如果这种情况普遍存在，大约94 000公顷的土地可能受到影响。