我们的星球（2019）

depend upon it for their livelihood.
靠这条河维持生计
The monsoon rains create such a colossal surge of water
季风雨造就了宏大汹涌的水流
that the falls themselves almost disappear.
连瀑布都快被淹没了
The water is loaded with sediment,
湄公河源自青藏高原
collected during the Mekong's long journey
在长途奔袭的过程中
from the Tibetan Plateau.
泥沙随着支流进入河水
Even before the flood, the water covers a vast area of land.
洪水来临之前 水面已经淹没了大♥片♥土地
These exposed roots are evidence
这些裸♥露♥的根茎预示着
of the great rise in water level that is to come.
不久将会迎来水位大涨
When the main flood does arrive,
当洪峰来临时
the trees are submerged up to their branches.
水会淹没到树枝
For a few months, the floodwaters
在几个月内
create the planet's greatest breeding grounds
洪水造就了地球上最大的
for freshwater fish.
淡水鱼繁殖地
One species has a particularly ingenious solution
为了解决浅水缺氧环境下的生存问题
to the problems of living in shallow, oxygen-poor water.
有种生物想出了一个绝佳的解决方法
The Siamese fighting fish.
暹罗斗鱼
The male breathes by gulping air from the surface,
雄鱼会在水面大口吸气
and during the breeding season
而在繁殖期
he uses that ability to build a raft of bubbles.
它利用这种能力吐出一排排气泡
Day after day he labors.
日日夜夜 它都忙碌着
A female, waiting nearby, rises to inspect the raft.
在一旁等候的雌鱼 游上来欣赏雄鱼的杰作
They wrap themselves around one another in a tender embrace.
它们紧紧相拥 合二为一
This union encourages her to release her eggs.
这种结合会促使雌鱼排卵
As they sink downwards, the male fertilizes them.
当它们下沉时 雄鱼会给卵受精
Both carefully collect them,
它们都小心翼翼地将卵收集起来
and then blow them, one by one, into the bubble nest.
然后将它们一个个地吹进泡泡筑成的巢穴
Oxygen is scarce in these stagnant waters,
氧气在不流动的水中十分稀缺
but the eggs will get enough from the bubbles
但这些受精卵会从泡泡中获得足够的氧气
to allow them to develop.
得以生长发育
The climax of the flood is still to come.
洪峰即将到来
Eventually, so much water surges down the Mekong
终于 大量洪水顺着湄公河一泻千里
that the Tonl Sap Lake
连洞里萨湖的面♥积♥
expands to five times its dry-season size.
都扩大到了旱季的五倍
Vast numbers of fish now swim into these new feeding grounds.
大量的鱼游入这些新开辟的觅食区
People have harvested this seasonal event for millennia.
几千年来 人们都趁这个时节进行捕捞
They set nets across half of the river,
他们在半个河面都撒下了网
leaving the other half free
留下另一半河面
for the rest of the fish to swim on and breed.
让剩下的鱼游过 继续繁殖
The Mekong, in fact,
事实上 湄公河
supports the largest inland fishery in the world.
维持着世界上最大的内陆渔业
One-fifth of all the freshwater fish caught by people worldwide
全世界淡水渔获总量的五分之一
comes from this one river system.
都来自这片水系
But the future of the Mekong,
但正如世界上许多河流
like that of so many other rivers around the world,
湄公河未来所面临的风险
is increasingly at risk.
也在逐年增长
We have changed the natural flow
通过建造大坝等活动
of more than two-thirds of the planet's longest rivers
我们改变了地球上超过三分之二的
by, amongst other things, building dams across them.
长河的自然流动
So now, many rivers across the world no longer flow.
如今 世界上许多河流都已断流
Here in East Africa, in Ruaha, Tanzania,
在东非 坦桑尼亚的鲁阿哈
these elephants are searching for water.
这些大象正在寻找水源
Each needs to drink 200 liters every day,
每头大象每天需要饮水两百升
and there doesn't seem to be any here.
但这里似乎连一滴水都没有
But the elephants know
但是大象知道
that baobab wood contains a lot of moisture.
猴面包树含有很多水分
And in an emergency, they eat it in great quantities.
危急情况下 他们会大量食用这种树木
Lions also need water.
狮子也需要饮水
And conveniently for the lions,
水是猎物的聚集地
water is where their prey will gather.
对狮子来说一举两得
So both predators and prey head for the rivers.
所以捕食者和猎物都向河流进发
Until 30 years ago,
三十年前
rivers in this part of Africa never ran dry.
非洲这个地区的河流从不干涸
Now, agriculture upstream is taking great quantities,
现在 上游农业发展消耗的水量巨大
and during the dry season, the rivers shrink into isolated pools.
河流会在旱季收缩成孤立的小池塘
Hippos rely on flowing water
河马依赖流动水
to keep themselves cool during the day,
让自己在白天保持凉爽
but now they have to make do with mud.
但现在它们只能靠泥浆勉强度日
As the water level falls still further, they cram together.
随着水位进一步下降 河马们挤在一起
Tempers begin to fray.
情绪也变得焦躁起来
Each day, the mud pools shrink further,
每天 泥浆池都在进一步缩小
and the hippos' plight worsens.
河马的处境变得更糟
Buffalo, in the urgent search for water.
水牛在急切地寻找水源
The lions are already here at this water hole.
狮子早就抵达水池边
However, the buffalo are driven on
但是对淡水的迫切渴求
by their desperate need for fresh water.
驱使着水牛继续前进
They need to drink every day.
它们需要每日饮水
Every drink is now a risk,
每喝一口水都是在冒险
but the buffalo have no choice.
但水牛别无选择
As the drought continues, the buffalo begin to weaken.
随着干旱的持续 水牛开始变得虚弱
The odds are changing, in the lions' favor.
狮子逐渐占据上风
The elephants have reached their river.
大象也到达了目的地
Nothing else is here because it's dry.
这里什么都没有 因为河流已经干涸
But elephants can find water where others can't.
但是大象能找到隐藏极深的水源
They use their trunks to dig holes in the sand of the riverbed.
它们用鼻子在河床上的沙子中挖洞
The extraordinary sense of smell
大象的超强嗅觉
that enables them to detect open water from kilometers away
使它们能在几公里之外找到开放水域
also helps them to locate places underground
也能帮它们找到
where it lies closest to the surface.
离地面最近的地下水
In severe droughts, the wells they dig can be their lifeline.
极度干旱时 它们挖出的水井就是一线生机
The hardships of the dry season have always been part of life
旱季的艰辛一直是东非平原上
on East Africa's plains,
生活的一部分
but as the planet warms,
但随着地球变暖
and we ourselves take so much water for our own purposes,
以及人类用水量的增加
the droughts are becoming more frequent and more severe.
旱灾变得越来越频繁 也越来越严重
The Platte River, in Nebraska, North America.
北美内布拉斯加州的普拉特河
Each year, sandhill cranes arrive here
每年 沙丘鹤会穿越整个美洲
as they travel north across America
向北迁徙到这里
on one of the last great migrations made by any animal.
这是如今世界上仅有的动物大迁徙之一
It's one of their crucial staging posts.
这是它们的一个重要的中转站
The river once flooded the prairie for a mile in all directions.
这条河流曾经会向四面八方漫延一点六千米
This was a perfect place for them to feed and rest.
这里曾是绝佳的进食修整之地
Now, we have dammed the river
现在 我们在河流上筑起了水坝
and taken so much of its water for our own use
取走大量的水供自己使用
that there is little space left for the cranes.
几乎没有给沙丘鹤留下多少余地
But conservationists now manage the river's flow in such a way
但环境保护主义者们开始控制河水流动方式
that it still creates the sandbanks the cranes need.
从而保留了鹤群所需要的沙丘
We are not alone in our need for water,
并不是只有我们才需要水
but we have the ability
但我们有能力
to ensure the fresh waters of the world do flow,
确保世界上的淡水继续流动
and we alone can determine how they are shared.
而只有我们才能决定如何共享水资源
Please visit ourplanet.Com
请访问ourplanet.com
to discover what we need to do now
探索我们如今要怎么做
to ensure fresh water keeps flowing.
才能确保淡水河继续流动