VOA慢速英語:加州干旱可能對世界糧食價格產(chǎn)生重大影響

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語農(nóng)業(yè)報道。

The western United States is suffering from a severe lack of rain, this extreme dry weather condition is called a drought. The dry area includes the large state of California. Many of the fruits and vegetables eaten in the United States are grown there.

美國西部正遭遇嚴重缺雨，這種極端干旱天氣也被稱為drought(干旱)。干旱地區(qū)包括美國大州加利福尼亞。美國食用的很多水果蔬菜都產(chǎn)自那里。

Andy Domenigoni is a farmer in Riverside, California. His father, grandfather and great grandfather all farmed in the same area. He says farmers have good and bad years, and this year is one of the bad ones.

安迪·多梅尼格尼(Andy Domenigoni)是加州河濱市的一位農(nóng)民。他的父親、祖父和曾祖父都在同一地區(qū)務農(nóng)。他說農(nóng)民會遇到好年份和壞年頭，今年顯然是個壞年頭。

"I have some fields that we planted almost a month ago that are still not out of the ground," Domenigoni said.

多梅尼格尼說，“我近一個月前種的一些地至今還沒長出東西來。”

He says it usually takes five to seven days for the wheat to begin growing, but not this year. He shows us a brown field.

他說，小麥通常需要五到七天開始生長，但今年不是這樣。他給我們看了一片光禿禿的土地。

"And you can see behind me, this field was planted two weeks ago and it is just bone dry. The seed is not in any moisture. It can't sprout. We got to wait for the rain," Domenigoni said.

多梅尼格尼說，“你可以看到我身后的這片土地是兩周前種下的，現(xiàn)在都干透了。種子缺少水分不能發(fā)芽。我們得等下雨。”

Mr Domenigoni is not the only person waiting for rain. Bill Patzert is climatologist of NASA - the American Space Agency. He says drought conditions in the American West and Southwest have been getting worse for the past ten years.

多梅尼格尼先生不是唯一在等雨的人。比爾·帕澤特(Bill Patzert)是美國宇航局的氣候?qū)W家。他說，過去十年美國西部和西南部的旱情一直在加重。

"Ranchers in the West are selling off their livestock. Farmers all over the Southwest, from Texas to Oregon, are fallowing in their fields because of a lack of water. So for farmers and ranchers, this is a very painful drought," Patzert said.

帕澤特說，“西部的牧場主正在出售他們的牲畜。西南部從得克薩斯州到俄勒岡州的農(nóng)民也都因為缺水而休耕。因此對這些農(nóng)民和牧場主來說，這是一次非常困難的旱災。”

Mr Patzert says Southern California is dealing with the worst drought since officials begin keeping records more than 135 years ago.

帕澤特先生表示，南加州正著手解決這次有關(guān)方面135多年以前開始記錄以來最為嚴重的干旱。

Milt McGiffen is a field crop expert at the University of California. He says the drought in his state is going to affect many people for many years to come.

米爾特·馬吉芬(Milt McGiffen)是加州大學的一位農(nóng)田作物專家。他說，加州的干旱將在未來多年影響到很多人。

"The short-term impact is going to be higher food prices. The longer-term impact is going to be you're just not going to have as much production in the country. It's part of an overall trend in the next 50 years," said McGiffen.

馬吉芬表示，“短期影響將會是食品價格上漲。長期影響則將會是全國產(chǎn)量的下降，它是未來50年總體趨勢的一部分。”

He says as the population increases, the amount of water for each person is decreasing. And he says that can not continue. He says a technology solution is urgently needed.

他說，隨著人口增加，人均水量在下降。他說，這樣無法持續(xù)下去，迫切需要一個技術(shù)解決方案。

Bill Patzert of NASA says what happens on California farms affects Americans and people around the world. He says the California farms provide food for the United States, and export food to the world.

美國宇航局的帕澤特表示，加州農(nóng)場的遭遇會影響到美國和世界各地的人們。他說，加州農(nóng)場為美國提供食物，并出口食品到世界各地。

A United Nations report said world food prices in 2013 were among the highest ever. Food experts say they will not know how much the drought in the western U.S. will affect the price of food for 2014 until later this year. Experts agree there is no easy for quick answer to the problem of making sure farmers have enough water to grow their crops.

聯(lián)合國的一份報告稱，2013年世界糧食價格創(chuàng)有史以來的最高記錄。糧食專家表示，在今年年底前，他們無法預知美國西部的干旱對2014年糧食價格會有多大影響。專家們認為，確保農(nóng)民擁有足夠水源種植農(nóng)作物并沒有一種簡單易行的解決之道。