双语：珊瑚礁被破坏是印度洋海啸造成灾难原因之一

摘要：

  科学家对斯里兰卡地区海域研究后发现，去年的印度洋大海啸造成的惨重损失与当地非法开采珊瑚有着直接联系。
Thousands of people were killed when the Boxing Day tsunami struck Sri Lanka because poachers had removed coral reefs that would have shielded the coastline from the worst of the waves.

近日，科学家对斯里兰卡地区海域研究后发现，去年的印度洋大海啸造成的惨重损失与当地非法开采珊瑚有着直接联系。

据英国《卫报》8月17日报道，去年的印度洋海啸夺去了斯里兰卡成千上万人的生命，而造成如此惨重损失的原因之一便是近海的珊瑚被大量盗走，而它们原本可以抵挡住最狂暴的海浪对海岸线的侵袭。珊瑚开采是斯里兰卡的一项重要产业，它们通过被卖给旅游者或做成工艺品给当地带来可观的经济收入，所以当地政府很少使用法律手段来制止这种行为。

在去年的海啸中，一个高达10米的巨浪在斯里兰卡西南部的佩拉利亚镇登陆，它在陆地上“横冲直撞”1英里（约合1.6公里）有余，并将一列满载乘客的火车冲出铁轨50米远，共造成1700人死亡。科学家们发现，该地区海中的珊瑚礁已不复存在。而在另一个名叫希卡杜瓦的地方，由于当地的珊瑚礁被悉心呵护，在海浪抵达陆地时只有3米高，且仅向前推进了50米，未造成人员死亡。

佩拉利亚镇和希卡杜瓦两地都经历海啸结果却大不一样，这与海岸线的具体形状毫无关系，而与珊瑚礁的保存状况密切相关。事实证明，那些位于离岸几米远处未被破坏的珊瑚礁可以有效阻止海浪的冲击并使其高度明显降低。很多目睹了去年大海啸的人表示，他们曾看到海浪在撞击到珊瑚礁上后立即变小了。而在另外一些地方，受阻的海浪在穿越珊瑚礁上人为造成的空洞后以更猛烈的态势冲向海滩。尽管遭受到去年那场海啸的正面袭击，但海拔很低的马尔代夫的损失相对来说却显得微不足道，其原因同样在于那里的珊瑚礁未被破坏。

负责此次研究的哈林达· 约瑟夫·费尔南多是在美国亚利桑那州立大学工作的一位斯里兰卡流体动力学家，他认为有关国家政府应当进一步努力制止对珊瑚礁的偷盗行为并保护海边的天然防护物免受破坏。研究报告已于16日发表在了美国地球物理学会所办的《黎明女神》报上。

Thousands of people were killed when the Boxing Day tsunami struck Sri Lanka because poachers had removed coral reefs that would have shielded the coastline from the worst of the waves.

Scientists from the US and Sri Lanka who have surveyed the area say the pattern of destruction onshore matches the illegal mining of coral offshore.

In the south-western town of Peraliya, where the research team found coral removed, a 10-metre wave surged more than a mile inland and killed 1,700 people when it swept a passenger train 50 metres off its tracks.

Two miles south in Hikkaduwa where the intact coral reef is protected by hotel owners as a tourist resource, the wave reached a height of three metres, and went inland just 50 metres, causing no deaths.

The difference is not attributed to coastline features but the fact that the intact coral, just a few metres from the beach, blocked the wall of water and significantly reduced its height.

Witnesses to the tsunami reported a visible shrinking in the wave when it hit coral. In other places, the blocked water surged through man-made holes in the coral reefs and went on to lash the shore with greater force.

Intact coral reefs could explain how the low-lying Maldives escaped relativ

ely unscathed despite being in the direct path of the tsunami.

Harinda Joseph Fernando, a Sri Lankan fluid dynamics expert at Arizona State University who led the research, said governments needed to be more careful about stopping coral poaching and the destruction of beaches' natural defences. His team published its findings yesterday in Eos, the newspaper of the American Geophysical Union.

Mining for coral is big business in Sri Lanka where it is sold to tourists and used in paint making. The government rarely enforces laws against the practice.




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