提到澳大利亚，你的第一反应是什么？考拉？袋鼠？

然而近日，澳大利亚却和大火联系到了一起。山火从去年9月份开始燃烧，到现在已经持续了四个月，范围不断扩大，过火面积已经超5.25万平方公里，接近600万公顷，相当于一个克罗地亚。

这场在澳大利亚数十年来最严重的火情已造成 24人死亡，大火摧毁了家园，给野生动物带来灭顶之灾，曾经蔚蓝的天空也变成了血红色。

Australia has been ravaged by some of the worst wildfires seen in decades, with the massive blazes destroying homes, devastating wildlife, turning skies blood red and leaving a total of 24 people dead nationwide.

近来，这样的故事也就屡次出现在报道上：

热浪和大火席卷澳大利亚，一只脱水的考拉接近自行车骑手，希望得到帮助。

A dehydrated and confused koala approached a passing cyclist in what appeared to be a call for help, as a heatwave and wild fires continued to grip Australia.

当时，骑手Anna Heusler和同伴们在前往阿德莱德附近的山上骑行而下，就看到有考拉坐在路中央。

Anna Heusler was riding her bike down from the hills toward Adelaide, South Australia last Thursday with a group of cyclists when she saw a koala sitting in the middle of the road.

“我们停下来想帮助它离开路中央，免得被汽车撞上。但是它快速向我走来，明显很需要水。”

"We stopped the bikes to help the koala get off the road otherwise they get hit by cars. But the koala walked up to me very quickly, he was obviously very thirsty," Heusler told CNN.

考拉喝了Heusler和同伴水壶里的水，然后被安全转移到路旁。

When the koala had drunk from both Heusler's and her partner's water bottles, it was moved safely off the road.

而在距离阿德莱德25英里的Cuddle Creek，消防员也救助了一只缺水的考拉。

A firefighter helped a thirsty koala drink water from a bottle in south Australia Sunday while fires raged in the region. The koala appeared in Cuddle Creek, about 25 miles northeast of Adelaide, before the fire game through while firefighters were there.

从图上可以看到，考拉在喝水的同时，怀里还抱着一个空水瓶，而它周围的草地已经干枯，背景烟雾升腾。

The animal drinks out of the plastic bottle while an empty bottle sits between its legs. The grass all around the animal is completely dry and smoke rises in the background.

考拉获救让人欣慰，不过更多的时候，却只留下这样无助的一幕：

在这场大火中获救的考拉实属侥幸，更多的动物却没能逃离火场。

近5亿动物丧生

澳大利亚山火并不罕见，几乎每年都会发生，然而这一次的破坏力却无出其右。

Australian states battle bush fires every year -- but little has compared to the widespread devastation of this fire season.

澳大利亚新闻网站：大火造成动植物巨大损失

9月开始的大火造成动物死亡的数量令人难以置信，引发对于物种灭绝的担忧

据澳大利亚悉尼大学生态学教授克里斯•迪克曼估算，2019年9月以来，仅在新南威尔士州就有至少4.8亿只野生动物在森林大火中丧生，4.8亿这个数字包括哺乳动物、鸟类和爬行动物。

Sydney University Ecology Professor Chris Dickman said 480 million animals had been killed in New South Wales alone including mammals, birds and reptiles.

悉尼大学3日发表声明说，克里斯•迪克曼教授基于世界自然保护基金会关于土地清理对新州野生动植物影响的报告，获得了该州哺乳动物种群的密度估算值，再用密度估算值乘以被林火焚毁的土地面积，最终得出这一数字。

声明说，迪克曼在计算时使用了高度保守的估计，且他的计算并不包括对生态系统健康十分重要的昆虫、蝙蝠和青蛙。因此，新州真实的野生动物死亡数字可能远远超过4.8亿。

That number does not include insects, bats or frogs that are essential to the health of an ecosystem. 'The true loss of animal life is likely to be much higher than 480 million,' he said.

悉尼大学的生态学家们还表示，这些因林火丧生的野生动物，很多是直接死于大火，还有一些死于食物枯竭与栖息地丧失。

“Many of the affected animals are likely to have been killed directly by the fires, with others succumbing later due to the depletion of food and shelter resources,” the University of Sydney ecologists said.

而澳大利亚大陆，有244个没有在世界其他地方发现的野生动物物种。生态学家担忧，灾难性的大火将数十年来的动物保护努力付之一炬，有些物种可能面临灭绝的结果。

The continent contains 244 species of wildlife found nowhere else. Ecologists fear the catastrophic fires have pushed back conservation efforts by decades and some species may become extinct as a result.

社交媒体上则流传着烧伤考拉接受治疗、动物尸体横陈路边、袋鼠惊慌逃离火场的照片。

Pictures and images on social media show charred koalas receiving medical attention, bodies of dead animals lying on the ground and kangaroos desperately running from blazes.

（图片来源：英国《每日邮报》网站视频）

上周五，澳大利亚环境部门负责人Sussan Ley在接受ABC广播采访时表示，大约有8000只考拉在大火中丧生，占新南威尔士州考拉总数的30%。

The estimated death toll included up to 8,000 koalas, according to the federal environment minister Sussan Ley, who said in an ABC Radio interview last Friday that up to 30 percent of the species in New South Wales may have been wiped out.

她说：我们在火势平息后会了解更多情况，才能做出更正确的评估。

“We’ll know more when the fires have calmed down and a proper assessment can be made,” she said.

据《每日邮报》报道，在澳大利亚袋鼠岛大火中，超2万只考拉死亡。3日，丛林大火袭击澳大利亚第三大岛袋鼠岛，烧毁超15万公顷森林。不仅行动缓慢的考拉遭重创，跑跳速度很快的袋鼠也死伤无数。

澳大利亚新南威尔士州自然保护协会的生态学家Mark Graham表示，考拉没有足够的快速移动能力，也就无法从迅速蔓延的林火中逃离。

Mark Graham, an ecologist with the Nature Conservation Council, told that koalas have “no capacity to move fast enough” to escape from fast-moving fires that spread between trees.

血色的天空

上周日，由于致命大火，澳大利亚东南部地区的天空呈现出了血红色，居民慌忙逃难，而资深救火队员则形容过去的24小时是“我们经历过最糟糕的一天。”

Skies turned blood red above parts of southeast Australia last Sunday as residents sought refuge from deadly bushfires, and a senior firefighter described the previous 24 hours as "one of our worst days ever."

新南威尔士州Pambula的照片，显示出的一片诡异烟幕笼罩的大地，而天空则是炽热的红色。

Photographs of Pambula, in the state of New South Wales, showed an eerie, smoke-filled landscape, with an otherworldly, blazing red sky.

根据当地消防部门统计，该州有146处火情，65处未得到控制。周日大约有2700名消防人员参与灭火。

A total of 146 fires are burning across the state, with 65 uncontained, according to the NSW Rural Fire Service (NSWRFS). About 2,700 firefighters were tackling the blazes on Sunday.

就在一天后，由于大火导致浓烟笼罩堪培拉，空气质量极差，澳大利亚联邦政府关闭了这里负责应急反应的部门。周一时，堪培拉的空气质量指数为340。

The Australian federal government department responsible for managing emergencies shut its Canberra office due to poor air quality on Monday as the nation's capital choked on smoke from deadly bushfires. On Monday, Canberra had a rating over 340 on the Air Quality Index.

也就在5号，烟尘飘过塔斯曼海，抵达新西兰北岛北部地区上空，新西兰最大城市奥克兰笼罩在黄褐色烟尘中。奥克兰上午还是晴到多云，午后突然笼罩在黄褐色烟尘中。人们在社交媒体上纷纷评论说，下午2时的奥克兰好像太阳要落山了一样，“少见而又诡异”。

为何这场火越烧越大？

上周日，澳大利亚总理Scott Morrison则发出警示，火情最艰难的时期可能是1月底2月初：“危机尚未过去，还将持续数月。”

Last Sunday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison cautioned that for some states, the most difficult fire seasons could be later in January and February. "The crisis is not over," he said. "There are months to go."

为何澳大利亚大火燃烧数月，却灭不了？

其实是这样的

除了澳大利亚的地理气候特征、主要树种为富含油脂的桉树，以及近年来高温干旱叠加等客观因素，澳大利亚总理对于这次大火的处理，也饱受批评。大火发生时，他却“缺席”了，甚至去夏威夷度假，低估了气候变化的影响。

The prime minister has faced persistent accusations of being too absent, including by taking a holiday to Hawaii, and underplaying the role of climate change.

不过，Scott Morrison却说对于他处理大火问题上的批评，不会阻止他继续完成现有工作。

Asked about criticism of his handling on the bushfires at the weekend, Morrison said that it would not stop him from getting on with the job at hand.

他在6日宣布将设立新机构协调救灾和重建工作。澳国防军也出动预备役军人，与专业人士一起救灾。为支持全国赈灾，澳各界也在积极捐款。据当地媒体报道，目前捐款总额已达约2500万澳元。

综合来源：新华网，央视新闻，CNN，BBC，news.com.au，Huffton Post，NBC4

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