澳大利亚的“大火”吞噬了150万英亩土地

澳大利亚的“大火”吞噬了150万英亩土地

A pair of massive bushfires in southeastern Australia has merged into a "megafire" engulfing some 2.300 square miles — a single blaze more than three times as large as any known fire in California.

澳大利亚东南部的两场大规模丛林大火已经融合成一场“巨火”，吞没了大约2300平方英里-这场大火的规模是加州已知大火的三倍多。

The merged fire, which straddles the country's most populous states of New South Wales and Victoria, measures nearly 1.5 million acres, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. It is just one of some 135 bushfires in Australia's southeast that have claimed the lives of at least 26 people, killed more than a billion animals and damaged or destroyed nearly 3.000 homes.

据《悉尼先驱晨报》报道，大火蔓延至澳大利亚人口最多的新南威尔士州和维多利亚州，面积近150万英亩。这只是澳大利亚东南部135起山火中的一起，这些山火已经夺去了至少26人的生命，杀死了超过10亿只动物，破坏或摧毁了近3000座房屋。

Since September, the unprecedented bushfires have swept through an area larger than Massachusetts and New Hampshire combined.

自9月以来，前所未有的森林大火席卷了比马萨诸塞州和新罕布什尔州加起来还大的地区。

NASA has released an animation showing how smoke from the fires has reached the lower stratosphere and traveled as far away as Chile.

美国国家航空航天局发布了一段动画，展示了大火产生的烟雾是如何到达平流层底部，并传播到遥远的智利的。

Meanwhile, more than 30.000 people attended a protest in Sydney to denounce the government's handling of the crisis and to call for action on climate change.

与此同时，3万多人参加了在悉尼举行的抗议活动，谴责政府对危机的处理，并呼吁采取行动应对气候变化。

The protesters directed their ire at Prime Minister Scott Morrison, whose coalition government's policies have rejected a link between Australia's unprecedented drought and fires crisis and climate change.

抗议者把怒火指向了澳大利亚总理莫里森。莫里森领导的联合政府的政策拒绝把澳大利亚前所未有的干旱和火灾危机与气候变化联系起来。

However, the prime minister said this week that his government would launch an inquiry to examine whether there was any connection between the fires and climate change. Asked whether he expected the current fire crisis to become commonplace in Australia because of climate change, he replied: "The links and implications here have been acknowledged."

然而，总理本周表示，他的政府将发起一项调查，以确定火灾和气候变化之间是否存在任何联系。当被问及他是否预计由于气候变化，目前的火灾危机在澳大利亚会变得司空见惯时，他回答说:“这里的联系和影响已经得到承认。”

Morrison, who has also found himself on the defensive for taking a Hawaiian vacation with his family while the fires raged, also said Friday he had ordered the military to be on standby to help firefighters.

莫里森也发现自己在大火肆虐时与家人在夏威夷度假而处于守势。他周五还表示，他已下令军方待命，以帮助消防员。

"I've given them very clear instructions that they are to stand ready to move and support immediately," he said.

他说:“我已经给了他们非常明确的指示，让他们随时准备立即行动和提供支持。”

Authorities in Australia on Friday urged a quarter of a million people in Victoria to leave their homes amid erratic winds and soaring temperatures, even as there was welcome rain in some parts affected by the fires.

澳大利亚当局周五敦促维多利亚州25万人在反复无常的风和飙升的气温下离开家园，尽管受火灾影响的一些地区出现了及时雨。

Helicopters dropped supplies to towns at risk of being cut off and C-130 tankers unleashed torrents of fire retardant.

直升机向可能被切断的城镇空投物资，C-130坦克释放出大量阻燃剂。

Fire crews were preparing for what they believe will be a difficult night as the wind shifts and ramps up to 50 miles per hour. In parts of the fire-affected countryside, temperatures pegged out at 104 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday.

消防人员正在为他们认为将会是一个艰难的夜晚做准备，因为风向改变，风速将达到每小时50英里。在受火灾影响的部分农村地区，周五的温度稳定在104华氏度。

Firefighter Andrew Beville, who was battling the Morton fire on the outskirts of the town of Penrose, near Wingello, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that he wasn't sure what would happen when the blaze reached the town.

消防员安德鲁·贝维尔当时正在温格洛附近的彭罗斯镇郊区扑灭莫顿大火，他告诉澳大利亚广播公司，他不确定大火到达该镇后会发生什么。

"We just want to survive the night," he said.

“我们只想熬过这一晚，”他说。

Towns south of Sydney, including Eden, Batemans Bay and Norwa were warned by New South Wales Rural Fire Service to be prepared for another onslaught, The Associated Press reports.

据美联社报道，新南威尔士州农村消防局提醒悉尼以南的艾登、贝特曼斯湾和诺瓦等城镇做好准备，可能会遭遇另一场袭击。

In neighboring Victoria, premier Daniel Andrews told reporters he was thankful that there were at present no one unaccounted for and no communities cut off in his state.

在临近的维多利亚州，州长丹尼尔·安德鲁斯告诉记者，他很庆幸目前没有人下落不明，也没有社区被切断联系。

The conservation group WWF-Australia estimates that 1.25 billion animals have been killed in the fires and says it fears that some species, such as the glossy black-cockatoo and the knee-high kangaroo, face local extinctions.

世界自然基金会-澳大利亚分会估计，火灾已造成12.5亿只动物死亡，并表示担心某些物种，如光泽的黑凤头鹦鹉和及膝袋鼠，将面临局部灭绝。

Meanwhile, the government says the loss of livestock from the fires will exceed 100.000 animals.

与此同时，政府表示，火灾造成的牲畜损失将超过10万头。