The Italy-Switzerland border is melting

?????? Tucked（被折疊） between the Alps, at the border of Italy and Switzerland is a restaurant.

?????? 阿爾卑斯山脈之間，在意大利和瑞士的邊界上有一家餐廳。

?????? For tourists visiting from around the world, the Rifugio Guide del Cervino offers a break from winter sports for food, drinks, lodging. And as this reviewer called it :”A great Italian experience.”

?????? Rifugio Guide del Cervino 為來自全世界的游客提供冬季運(yùn)動的食物、飲料和住宿休息。正如這位評論者所說的：“這是一次很棒的意大利體驗(yàn)”

?????? But something unexpected is happening here. The nearby Theodul Glacier（冰川） is melting. And as it does, this little Italian lodge is on the verge of（接近于） moving into Switzerland.

?????? 但是意想不到的事情發(fā)生了——附近的 Theodul Glacier 正在融化。就是這個時候，這個小小的意大利旅館即將搬到瑞士。

?????? Most of Italy’s land border follows the watershed（分水嶺） along the Alps. There is this imaginary line. That divides the water that falls in the Mediterranean Sea in the south… Or in the north, into the black sea via the Dunbe… Or to the North Sea. That is Marco Ferrari. He wrote a book about this border with architect Andrea Bagnato and visual designer Elisa Pasqual.

?????? 意大利大部分的國土邊界沿著阿爾卑斯山脈的分水嶺。這條假象的線把地中海南部的雨水分成兩半，或者在北部通過 Dunbe 進(jìn)入黑海，或者進(jìn)入北部的海。那是Marco Ferrari，他與建筑師Andrea Bagnato和視覺設(shè)計師Elisa Pasqual一起寫了一本關(guān)于這種邊界的書。

?????? This watershed line traces many of the highest peaks of the Alps— Forming a natural border between countries.

?????? 這條分水嶺線連接了很多阿爾卑斯山脈的最高峰從而形成了兩個國家的天然邊界。

?????? Much of it is marked by over 8,000 boundary stones like these. Some of which have been around since 16th century.

?????? 沿途很多地方都被8000多塊這樣的界石標(biāo)記。其中一些早在16世紀(jì)就已經(jīng)存在。

?????? But in the most rugged（崎嶇的） terrain（地形）, where physical markers are few and far between, Swiss, Italian, and Austrian cartographic（制圖的） agencies have long maintained official border records with meticulous（細(xì)致的） measurements and annotated（帶注釋的） pictures like these.

?????? 但是在地勢崎嶇的地方物理標(biāo)記很少而且離國家很遠(yuǎn)。瑞士、意大利和奧地利的制圖機(jī)構(gòu)長期以來一直通過精細(xì)的測量儀器和帶注釋的照片來維持官方的國界記錄。

?????? Some of these areas are top of glaciers.?Their surfaces are too reflective for satellites（衛(wèi)星）—which are often used to measure borders.

?????? 有一些地方在冰川的頂部。從衛(wèi)星上看他們的表面非常反光——那些被經(jīng)常用來測量國界的。

?????? The work by surveyors is done manually（手工的）. ?So every few years, there’s a commission（考察團(tuán)） of surveyors composed of members of both countries that actually walk the border and look how it has changed.

?????? 這個工作被調(diào)查者手工完成。所以每隔幾年，就會有兩個國家成員組成的調(diào)查團(tuán)巡視國界，看看它們是如何變化的。

?????? As early as the 1920s, surveyors noticed a “slow but progressive” shrinking（收縮） among glacier… and that “some had disappeared”.

?????? 早在20世紀(jì)20年代，調(diào)查者們就注意到冰川中的一些正在“緩慢但漸漸的”縮小……以及“它們中的一些已經(jīng)消失了”。

?????? But by the 1990s, it became clear that summer melt and had outpaced（超過……的速度） winter accumulation.

?????? 但是到了20世紀(jì)90年代，很明顯，夏季冰雪融化的速度超過了冬季積累的速度。

?????? The surveyors realized that the glaciers were melting and not accumulating ice anymore. The kind of cyclical（周期的） change in the shape and geometry of the watershed became more and more permanent.

?????? 測量員們明白冰川正在融化，并且冰雪不再累積。風(fēng)水嶺的外觀和幾何形狀的周期性變化越來越常態(tài)。

?????? And as glacier shifted, so did the watershed. And so did the border. Here’s that what looks like.

?????? 隨著冰川的改變，風(fēng)水嶺也發(fā)生了變化，邊界也是如此。這就是它看起來的樣子。

?????? On many Alpine peaks, a glacier ridge（山脈） forms the watershed boundary line and thus the national border. But as those glacier melt, their highest point might shift often dozens of（幾十） meters away.

?????? 在阿爾卑斯山脈的眾多高峰上，冰川脊形成了風(fēng)水嶺邊界線，從而形成了國家邊界。但是隨著冰川的融化，它們的最高點(diǎn)可能會經(jīng)常移動到幾十米之外。

?????? If they melt far enough, their even reveal underlying rock peaks—which then became the border line.

?????? 如果它們?nèi)诨淖銐蜻h(yuǎn)，它們甚至?xí)冻鱿旅娴膸r石山峰——然后變成邊界線。

?????? These black X’s mark was the old national boundary between Italy and Switzerland. But if you trace today’s national boundary and compare to old maps, you can see all the place where the boundary line has moved.

?????? 這些黑色的X標(biāo)志是過去意大利和瑞士的國界。但是如果你沿著今天的國界和老地圖比較，你會看到邊界移動的地方。

?????? In the most extreme case yet in the Alps, shifts in the Theodul Glacier moved the border 150 meters. That put this Italian ski lift on Swiss solid. And the Rifugio Guide del Cervino might be next.

?????? 在阿爾卑斯最極端的例子中，Theodul Glacier 使邊界移動了150米。這讓這個意大利滑雪纜車移動到了瑞士的土地上。而Rifugio Guide del Cervino可能是下一個。

?????? Typically when countries renegotiate（重新談判） borders, that’s a careful process to make sure that neither country gains territory at the other’s expense. But recently, Italy signed a new type of agreement… First with Austria in 2006… And then with Switzerland in 2009…

?????? 通常情況下，當(dāng)國家重新談判國界時，會有一個謹(jǐn)慎的過程以確保任何一個國家都不會犧牲另一個國家的利益來獲得領(lǐng)土。但是最近意大利簽訂了一種新型協(xié)議……第一次是與奧地利在2006年……然后是和瑞士在2009年……

?????? That recognized the Alps as a “mobile border”. Acknowledging that the border was subject to（使服從） changes in the natural world outside of those countries’ control.

?????? 這意味著阿爾卑斯成為一個“動態(tài)邊界”。即承認(rèn)這個邊界受除國家操縱外的自然界變化影響。

?????? Fortunately, the Rifugio is the only inhabited place along this shifting border. And if it becomes Swiss, it’ll be subject to Swiss law, taxes and customs. They might have to change their wall plugs. But for most nearby residents, the changes won’t mean much.

?????? 幸運(yùn)的是，Rifugio 是唯一有人居住的地方在移動的邊界上。如果它移動搭配瑞士，它將服從瑞士的法律、稅收和海關(guān)。他們可能不得不更換墻上的插頭。但是對于附近的大多數(shù)居民來說這些改變并不會造成太大影響。

?????? But if we think about different areas of the world where similar processes are happening—For example, the Himalaya or the Andes…

?????? 但是如果我們思考在世界的其他地方相似的過程正在發(fā)生——比如喜馬拉雅山脈或者安迪斯山脈……

?????? These are completely different geopolitical（地理政治學(xué)的） situation— In which also the scare of the phenomenon is much, much bigger… The histories are much more conflicted.

?????? 有不同的地理政治學(xué)的情況（地緣政治學(xué)局勢）——其事件的規(guī)模也要大的多……歷史的矛盾也要大的多。

?????? In the Himalayas, China and India disagree about their border. And they have fought several times over it as it continues to melt and shift.

?????? 在喜馬拉雅山脈中國和印度不同意他們的國界，當(dāng)喜馬拉雅山脈繼續(xù)融化的時候他們之間為此有過幾次沖突。

?????? And in the Andes, Chile and Argentina have long disagreed about own melting border. As climate change warms the planet and moves water-based borders, these conflicts could worsen.

?????? 還有在安第斯山脈，智利和阿根廷有很久的分歧關(guān)于自己融化的國界。隨著氣候的改變使得地球變暖，從而移動分水嶺，這些矛盾可能會惡化。

?????? Rivers, which make up over a third of the length of all international land boundaries, will be subject to extreme events that can change their course.

?????? 組成國際陸地邊界長度三分之一的河流將受到極端事件的影響，從而可能改變它們的流向。

?????? Coastlines（海岸線） will give way to（為……所替代） rising seas—Affecting exclusive（獨(dú)有的） economic zones… Where a country’s sovereignty（主權(quán)） extends in the ocean. And glaciers, like in the Alps, will continue to melt.

?????? 海岸線將會被不斷增長的海洋代替，從而影響專屬經(jīng)濟(jì)區(qū)……一個國家的主權(quán)延伸到海洋。而冰川，就像阿爾卑斯山脈一樣，將會繼續(xù)融化。

?????? The alpine mobile border is almost a laboratory, a prototype（原型） of a condition… That will happen more and more in a lot of different parts of the world.

?????? 阿爾卑斯山脈的動態(tài)邊界就像一個實(shí)驗(yàn)室，一個條件的原型……它將會世界上許多不同的地方頻繁地發(fā)生。