CNN News: 死海面积减少系人为原因

Staying in the Middle East. The Dead Sea is shrinking. Located between Israel and Jordan, it`s one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world. It`s called dead because it`s so high in salt and minerals that plants and fish can`t survive in it.

我们继续关注中东。死海面积在减少。死海位于以色列和约旦交界，是世界上盐度最大的湖泊之一。它之所以被称为死海是因为，其盐度和矿物质浓度很高，致使水中没有生物生存。

An environmental group says the lake is drying up by more than three feet per year. In 2015, Israel and Jordan agreed to $900 million deal to try to fix the problem. They`re building a canal from the Red Sea to the south, to the Dead Sea. This would allow the countries to pump water into the shrinking lake. The project is estimated to take three years and it`s not clear yet if it will work. But it`s an example of how people are trying to fix the problem that people caused.

某环保组织表示,每年湖泊干涸超过三英尺。2015年，以色列和约旦同意签署价值9亿美元的协议来解决此问题。两国从南部的红海开凿运河,向死海注水。该项目预计需要花费3年的时间，现在还尚不清楚该项目是否会奏效。但是这是一个例子：人类正在解决自己所造成的问题。

GIDON BROMBERG, ECO PEACE MIDDLE EAST, ISRAEL: Well, this is the old Lido Hotel, built on the shores of the Dead Sea.

这是老丽都酒店,建立在死海海岸。

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one was around to see the King Herod`s view, but many middle-aged Israelis remember walking through this once swank lobby and right into the waves.

没有人看到过希律王所见到的景象，但是很多中年以色列人记得走过华丽的大厅，然后就能踏入海浪。

(on camera): The Dead Sea is way, way down there. My goodness. Are you serious? So the waterline was where?

死海在……在这。天啊，吃水线在哪里?

BROMBERG: The waterline was actually right at the steps. The demise of the Dead Sea is completely manmade. This is not climate change. This is not an act of nature. The demise of the Dead Sea is taking place under government license.

水线实际上就在台阶处。死海的消亡是完全人为造成的的。而不是由于气候变化。这不是同一个性质的行为。死海的消亡是在政府许可的情况下发生的。

WEIR (voice-over): He shows me a mural of an old crusader map of the Jordan valley. And it`s a great way to get our bearings to understand that it all begins in the Sea of Galilee where Jesus took that famous walk across the waves. That is the main source of the River Jordan. And for centuries, it flowed into the Dead Sea with enough force to keep up with rapid evaporation under that scalding sun. But in the last 50 years, warring neighbors began draining the Jordan.

他向我展示了一幅古老的红十字军约旦河谷地图的壁画。这能帮助我们理解耶稣在加利利海接受洗礼。这是约旦河的主要来源。多个世纪以来，约旦河流入死海，其速度可抵消海水在炽热阳光下的蒸发率。但是在过去50年，敌对的邻国开始将约旦河的水排出。