正文翻譯
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.com 翻譯：騎著毛驢到處走 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處

Australia’s remarkable prosperity rests on a balancing act. It mines coal, natural gas and iron ore from a vulnerable landscape. It takes ever more money from China while allied with the American military.

澳大利亞取得的繁榮成就靠的是一種外交平衡的維持。
它在自己環(huán)境脆弱的土地上開采煤炭、天然氣和鐵礦石。
它在與美國(guó)軍事結(jié)盟的同時(shí)，從中國(guó)獲得越來(lái)越多的資金。

With devastating wildfires ripping through its countryside, that balance may become increasingly difficult to maintain.

隨著毀滅性的野火肆虐鄉(xiāng)間，這種平衡可能越來(lái)越難以維繼。

Australia’s leaders face growing pressure to address climate change, as scientists blame the country’s increasingly hot and dry conditions for the disastrous blazes. That would mean reckoning with Australia’s dependence on providing China and other countries with coal.

澳大利亞領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人正面臨越來(lái)越大的壓力，他們必須盡快拿出應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化的對(duì)策，因?yàn)榭茖W(xué)家們將這場(chǎng)災(zāi)難性的大火歸咎于澳大利亞日益炎熱和干燥的自然環(huán)境。
這就意味著澳大利亞要反思自己依賴于向中國(guó)和其他國(guó)家供應(yīng)煤炭的經(jīng)濟(jì)模式。

The fossil fuel, used to fire many of the world’s power plants and steel mills, is one of Australia’s biggest exports. Coal is also one of the biggest sources of climate change gases, and produces most of Australia’s own electricity.

化石燃料是澳大利亞最大的出口品之一，世界上許多發(fā)電廠和鋼鐵廠都使用這種燃料。煤炭也是導(dǎo)致氣候變化的最大因素之一，澳大利亞本國(guó)的大部分電力也來(lái)自煤炭。

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a conservative leader and political ally of President Trump, came to power in part by defending the mining industry. He sees action on global warming as a substantial threat to an industry that directly employs 250,000 Australians and contributes to the jobs of many more.

澳大利亞保守派領(lǐng)袖、特朗普總統(tǒng)的政治盟友、澳大利亞總理斯科特·莫里森上臺(tái)的部分原因是對(duì)采礦業(yè)的支持。他認(rèn)為，采礦業(yè)為25萬(wàn)澳大利亞人提供了工作，而以全球變暖為名限制采礦業(yè)，勢(shì)必會(huì)損害澳大利亞的工作機(jī)會(huì)。

The Australian mining and energy industries have long benefited from China’s spectacular growth. China accounts for almost two-fifths of Australia’s exports. A vast fleet of vessels carries coal from northeastern Australia and iron ore and liquefied natural gas from northwestern Australia to Chinese ports.

長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)，澳大利亞的采礦和能源行業(yè)一直受益于中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的驚人增長(zhǎng)。中國(guó)幾乎占到澳大利亞出口的近五分之二。龐大的船隊(duì)將澳大利亞?wèn)|北部的煤炭以及西北部的鐵礦石和液化天然氣運(yùn)往中國(guó)港口。

Coal narrowly trails iron ore as Australia’s biggest export, with liquefied natural gas close behind. Australia’s combined exports of the three natural resources work out to nearly 7,300 Australian dollars, or almost $5,000, a year for every adult and child in the country, giving broad political influence to the mining industry.

在澳大利亞最大的出口商品當(dāng)中，煤炭緊隨鐵礦石列第二，之后就是液化天然氣。這三種自然資源的出口合計(jì)每年為澳大利亞每個(gè)成年人和兒童帶來(lái)近7300澳元（約合5000美元）的收入，所以采礦業(yè)具有廣泛的政治影響。

Still, the wildfires are only one factor forcing many Australians to question how long this economic formula will last.

不過(guò)，森林大火迫使許多澳大利亞人質(zhì)疑這種經(jīng)濟(jì)模式的可持續(xù)性。

Some worry that Australia has become too dependent on China at a time when the United States is pressuring allies to keep some distance. On the military front, China has become increasingly assertive in the Pacific Ocean in the region. China has built the world’s largest navy. It has established close relations with Australia’s neighbors in the South Pacific. And it has constructed air bases on an archipelago of artificial islands across the South China Sea.

一些人還擔(dān)心，在美國(guó)向盟國(guó)施壓，要求與中國(guó)保持一定距離的同時(shí)，澳大利亞正變得過(guò)于依賴中國(guó)。在軍事方面，中國(guó)在太平洋地區(qū)越來(lái)越自信。中國(guó)已經(jīng)建立了世界上最大的海軍（譯者注：什么時(shí)候？我們中國(guó)人怎么不知道？）。它與澳大利亞的南太平洋鄰國(guó)建立了密切的關(guān)系。它在橫跨南海的一系列人工島嶼上建起了空軍基地。

At home, Australian voters have also become increasingly concerned about the growing influence of Chinese money in the country’s political scene.

在國(guó)內(nèi)，澳大利亞選民也越來(lái)越關(guān)注中國(guó)資本在本國(guó)政治舞臺(tái)上日益增長(zhǎng)的影響力。

“Our economy is vitally dependent on China, and yet our security ties are with the U.S., and our economy is vitally dependent on fossil fuels, and yet our landscape is relatively exposed to climate change,” Chris Richardson, the chief Australia economist at Deloitte, said.

首席澳大利亞經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家克里斯·理查森表示：“我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)非常依賴中國(guó)，而我們的安全與美國(guó)緊緊相連，我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)非常依賴化石燃料，而我們的自然卻受氣候變化的影響。”

Shifting the world’s 14th-largest economy would be no easy task, no matter how much the government might do.

無(wú)論澳大利亞政府做多少努力，改變作為世界第14大經(jīng)濟(jì)體的本國(guó)絕非易事。

Australia not only burns coal to generate most of its own electricity but also exports nearly $40 billion a year of the fuel, mainly to Japan, China, India, South Korea and Taiwan. Though China is by far Australia’s largest trading partner, Japan has long been its largest coal customer.

澳大利亞本國(guó)大部分電力要依靠燃燒煤炭，而且每年還出口近400億美元的燃料，主要銷往日本、中國(guó)、印度、韓國(guó)和臺(tái)灣。中國(guó)到目前為止是澳大利亞最大的貿(mào)易伙伴，但日本一直是其最大的煤炭消費(fèi)國(guó)。

Opinion surveys in Australia over the years have found sizable majorities who favor action on climate change. But as in the United States with the Electoral College, Australia’s political system gives greater influence to some regions of the country than to others. One beneficiary is the state of Queensland, in the country’s northeast.

多年來(lái)，在澳大利亞進(jìn)行的民意調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，絕大多數(shù)人贊成采取行動(dòng)應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化。但是，就像設(shè)有選舉團(tuán)制度的美國(guó)一樣，澳大利亞的政治制度讓該國(guó)某些地區(qū)擁有比其他地區(qū)更大的影響力。采礦業(yè)受益者之一是澳大利亞?wèn)|北部的昆士蘭州。

Queensland is Australia’s main coal-producing state. It played a key role when Mr. Morrison led his center-right coalition to an unexpected election victory in May.

昆士蘭是澳大利亞的主要產(chǎn)煤州。澳大利亞總理莫里森帶領(lǐng)他的中右翼聯(lián)盟在5月意外勝選，昆士蘭州起到的作用至關(guān)重要。

The tourism industry has not been broadly hit by the wildfires so far because conflagrations have mainly occurred in smaller communities. But the smoke that has at times clogged the air over Sydney and Melbourne could take a toll. The fires could have a much broader economic effect if they damage public confidence and make Australians more cautious about spending money, Mr. Richardson said.

到目前為止，大火給旅游業(yè)的沖擊并不嚴(yán)重，因?yàn)榛馂?zāi)主要發(fā)生在較小的地區(qū)。但是煙霧有時(shí)會(huì)污染悉尼和墨爾本的空氣，這可能會(huì)造成損失。
經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家理查森說(shuō)，如果大火破壞公眾信心并使澳大利亞人更加謹(jǐn)慎消費(fèi)，那么大火可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生更廣泛的經(jīng)濟(jì)影響。

At some favorite tourist sites, people who depend on the natural beauty of the land worry that the fires may threaten their way of life.

在一些最受歡迎的旅游景點(diǎn)，景點(diǎn)的工作人員擔(dān)心大火會(huì)威脅到他們的生活方式。

Jervis Bay, a resort town between Sydney and Canberra on Australia’s southeastern coast, usually boasts beaches of soft white sand and seawater of crystalline clarity. On a recent visit, smoke shrouded the landscape, and the water was murky.

杰維斯灣，是位于澳大利亞?wèn)|南海岸悉尼和堪培拉之間的度假勝地，是一個(gè)鋪滿白色沙灘和清澈海水的地方。但在最近的一次游客造訪中，那里煙霧籠罩，水質(zhì)渾濁。

Business owners with fridges full for the summer season worry about the future.

為夏天的旺季準(zhǔn)備了大量冷藏物資的商家對(duì)未來(lái)充滿憂慮。

Niel Badenhorst, a cafe owner, said that since the blazes broke out after Christmas, sales were down a quarter. The period around Christmas and January is normally peak season, he said.

咖啡館老板尼爾·巴登霍斯特說(shuō)，由于圣誕節(jié)后大火爆發(fā)，店里銷量下降了四分之一。他說(shuō)，圣誕節(jié)到一月左右的這段時(shí)間通常是旺季。

“I was worried if the power goes I would have high losses,” Mr. Badenhorst said, adding that the cafe’s refrigerators were full of food that would spoil if extensive nearby power failures spread to his community and persisted.

巴登霍斯特說(shuō)：“我擔(dān)心萬(wàn)一斷電，這將會(huì)給我造成高額損失。”他還說(shuō)，咖啡館的冰箱里裝滿了食物，如果附近的大量停電事故蔓延到他的社區(qū)且遲遲得不到修理，食物會(huì)變質(zhì)的。

“I hope it will open some people’s eyes,” he said of the government’s inaction on climate change. He mentioned wind turbines that he recently saw lined up along Germany’s coast, and asked, “Why can’t we do that in Australia?”

“我希望這能讓一些人好好看看，”他談到政府對(duì)氣候變化不作為時(shí)說(shuō)。他提到最近在德國(guó)沿海見到的排成一排的風(fēng)力發(fā)電裝置，并問(wèn)：“為什么澳大利亞不能這樣做？”

評(píng)論翻譯
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.com 翻譯：騎著毛驢到處走 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處

Paul
Mining contributes 6.5% to 8.5% of Australia''s GDP, depending on the data source. It''s entirely impractical for coal and associated industries to be shut down. Never mind their customers will just source lower grade coal from other countries.
There is also a general view that Australia is lagging in renewable development. This is false. We have the highest density of wind and solar of any country (we don''t have much water for hydro and nuclear is banned). The problem like most countries is that 24/7 renewable power is still technically and economically unfeasible at this point. No new coal power plants have been constructed in Australia for decades and most existing ones only have short lives left.
Climate change is global, requiring practical and economically sustainable global efforts.

WHM
Australia might make some contribution by switching part of their own coal dominated energy sector to renewables but dont expect them to be able to decrease exports of coal.
Helping China and India with renewables could help greatly.

澳大利亞可能會(huì)做出一些行動(dòng)，比如將本國(guó)以煤炭為主的能源經(jīng)濟(jì)部分轉(zhuǎn)向可再生能源，但不要指望他們能夠減少煤炭出口。
也許我們可以利用可再生能源技術(shù)幫助中國(guó)和印度。