国家地理:保护着海岸和生命的消失的森林(5)
The islands in India's Hugli River, in the Ganges estuary on the western edge of the Sundarbans region, illustrate advanced stages of the decay. At least three islands that a century ago were covered in mangroves -- Lohachahara, Suparibhanga, and Bedford -- have vanished. Others are eroding fast: Sagar Island has shrunk by about 20 square miles since the mid-20th century, even as its population has swollen with new arrivals from its disappearing neighbors. Crop-growing conditions on Sagar have deteriorated so much that residents now survive largely off seasonal labor elsewhere.
位于孙德本尔斯西部恒河流域的印度胡格里河的小岛正体现着土壤退化的现状。至少三个小岛一个世纪以前还存在着，现在却被红树林覆盖--洛哈查哈拉、苏帕利河和贝德福德--都已经消失。其他小岛的土壤侵蚀现象也在加快：从20世纪中期到现在，沙加岛的面积缩减了约二十平方英里，即使邻岛消失带来的迁入人口使这座岛上的居民大量增加。沙加岛的农作物大量减产，居民不得不按季外出劳作以维生。
In some parts of the Sundarbans, the sea is advancing about 200 yards a year. "The people around the Sundarbans will lose a lot," said Tuhin Ghosh, an associate professor at Jadavpur University in Kolkata. "This is happening now." But even cities like Kolkata and Dhaka that lie some distance from the vanishing mangroves, he added, will find themselves "extremely exposed to cyclones and storm surges."
在孙德本尔斯的部分地区，海水每年会侵蚀大约200码的陆地。加尔各答贾巴尔普尔大学的助教图金·哈什表示：“孙德本尔斯的居民会遭受巨大损失。这样的事情正在发生。”但就算是加尔各答和达卡这样离消失的红树林较远的城市，他又说，也会发现自己被暴露在了飓风和暴风雨的影响范围内。
