駛過聖華金谷 II

文章來自Harper's Magazine

駛過聖華金谷II

昨天我們停在作者和一位男攝影師的對話，

今天繼續來看剩下的六段。

這六段分別提到聖華金谷如何重要、

又如何與這幾年的乾旱、空氣污染有關等等。

其實環保問題每個國家都會遇到，

美國這先進國家也不例外，

有些地方甚至比我們更嚴重。

只是她會怎麼應對呢？

Over 250 crops are grown in the San Joaquin Valley, including almonds, peaches, mandarins, olives, wine grapes, table grapes, raisins, nectarines, plums, pistachios, walnuts, onions, carrots, garlic, wheat, lettuce, and 84 percent of California’s dairy products. Valley agriculture grosses over $25 billion annually. The agriculture industry accounts for about 80 percent of the state’s water usage. Right now, the region is suffering one of the worst droughts in a century. In the past two years, rain and snow were scarce. Reservoirs dried up. Farmers received little to no surface water, so many drilled new wells and irrigated crops with groundwater. Now the water table is dropping and turning salty. Some growers have cut down almond and fruit trees, and others have left fields fallow. This month, the state’s governor, Jerry Brown, issued an executive order reducing water usage by 25 percent across the state.

聖華金谷生產的作物超過250種，包括杏仁、桃子、柑橘、橄欖、釀酒葡萄、食用葡萄、葡萄乾、李子、開心果、核桃、洋蔥、胡蘿蔔、大蒜、小麥、萵苣，以及加州84%的乳製品。這裏的年度農產值超過250億美元，而農業用水占整個加州的80%。現在，聖華金谷正遭受100年來最嚴重的旱災。過去兩年，降雨和降水已十分稀少，水庫都乾涸了。農夫幾乎沒地表水可用，所以他們大都鑽井取水，以地下水灌溉作物。於是，地下水面越降越低，鹹度也越來越高。一些農夫已經砍掉杏仁和果樹，另一些則讓農地休耕。這個月，加州州長Jerry Brown發佈了一道行政命令，要求全州減少25%的用水量。

California is the last western state to allow landowners to drill wells and extract groundwater on their land with few to no restrictions. In response to criticism over the long-term environmental effects, and the state’s rapidly drying wells, the legislature passed a law last year mandating that local agencies limit groundwater extraction by 2040. “At that pace, it will be nearly 30 years before we even know what is working,” wrote Jay Famiglietti, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s senior water scientist, in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. “By then, there may be no groundwater left to sustain.”

加州是西部唯一一個幾乎沒限制、允許地主鑽井取地下水的州。為應對對環境造成長期傷害的批評、以及境內迅速乾涸的水井，立法機關去年已通過一條法案，命令在2040年前加州政府機構必須限制抽取地下水。“依照這個速度，幾乎要30年後我們才能看懂這究竟是怎麼一回事。”Jay Famiglietti是美國太空總署（NASA）噴射推進實驗室的資深水源家，他在《洛杉磯時報》的評論版如此寫道，“在那之前，地下水可能早就耗盡了。”

A white wooden fence circled the Starbucks parking lot, as if to counteract the irritation of long drive-through lines with the illusion of the pastoral. In the surrounding flatlands, pumpjacks pulled oil from beneath the soil. But despite the ugly commercial architecture, this area can be beautiful. In the San Emigdio Mountains to the southwest, native oaks spill down ravines, breaking the golden slopes with threads of green. In fall, low clouds coat the mountaintops. In spring, rains turn the hills lush with green grasses, imparting a coastal quality as radiant as anything near Santa Barbara. At sunset any time of year, the sky casts everything a rock-rose pink.

白色木製的柵欄圍繞住星巴克的停車場，彷彿用一種田園的假象來抵制得來速惱人的長條隊伍（原文這句寫得頗詩意啊|(￣3￣)|）。在周遭平坦的土地上，抽油機抽著藏在地下的油。但除了醜陋的商業建築，這片區域可以說是美的。從聖艾米迪歐山到西南方，野生橡樹散佈多個峽谷，在金黃色的斜面畫上絲絲綠線。秋天時，低雲籠罩山頂；春天時，雨水點綠山丘，就像聖塔芭芭拉（Santa Barbara）那海岸城市的熱情般輻射散開。一年之中不論何時，只要遇上日落，任何東西都會披上一層岩薔薇的粉色。

Nearby, a middle-aged couple sat at an outside table, sucking drinks through straws. Don, a retired journalist, and Caroline, a fifty-five year old government worker, were headed home to Oakland after a 2,000-mile road trip that took them through Death Valley, Monument Valley, and Canyon de Chelly. From here, they would drive I-5 north and turn west to Monterey. They didn’t drive the 5 much. “Not if we can help it,” Don said with a laugh. “You want to take 101. 101’s nice.” Don sucked the last of his drink through his straw and licked his lips. “The coast, to me, is more interesting than the valley.”

Around us, blackbirds patrolled the parking lot for scraps. A lone seagull landed on a McDonald’s light pole across the parking lot. An older man in a pearl-button shirt, dark jeans, and brown cowboy boots walked inside talking on his phone. “You’re holdin’ us up,” he said, “be reasonable.” Nearby, a guy told his girlfriend, “OK, four more hours,” as they climbed into a Prius, presumably bound for San Francisco.

附近有對中年夫妻坐在店外的餐桌，正用吸管喝飲料。Don是一名退休的記者，Caroline是55歲的政府職員，他們正準備回奧克蘭（Oakland）的家，結束2000多英里、途經死亡谷、紀念碑谷和笛簫谷的公路旅行。在這邊，他們就沿5號州際公路一路向北，再往西轉進蒙特利（Monterey）。其實他們過來時沒一直開5號。“我們也沒辦法啊，”Don笑著說，“就是想開101號國道，101號不錯。”Don吸完最後一口飲料，抿抿唇。“海岸線對我來說，比谷地要有趣多了。”我們周遭有一群烏鴉，在停車場巡視是否有食物碎屑。一隻單飛的海鷗降落在麥當勞的燈桿上。一位穿有珍珠釦襯衫、深色牛仔褲和牛仔靴的老人走進店裡，一邊講手機。“你根本在亂搞，”他說，“講理一點。”附近，一個男的跟他女朋友說，“好吧，再四個小時”，然後他們就爬進一台豐田普銳斯，繼續前往舊金山。

Two young men walked across the lot carrying Carl’s Jr. to-go bags, wearing thick black-rimmed glasses, skinny jeans, and T-shirts. They told me they worked in media and were driving home to San Diego from a conference they had attended in Oakland. “It was pretty dusty when we came this way,” one of the men, Steven, said. “Like, super dusty. I have no idea what it was. Seems like they were harvesting a bunch of shit.”

兩個年輕人走過停車場，提著卡樂星的外帶袋，戴著黑粗框眼鏡，穿著緊身牛仔褲和T恤。他們跟我說他們在媒體界工作，剛結束奧克蘭的會議、正開往聖地牙哥的家。“我們開過來的時候，空氣中滿是沙塵。”其中一個男的Steven說，“就是超誇張的那種。我根本不知道那是什麼，好像他們在採收一堆****”。

Much of the dust wasn’t from the drought; it was pollution from San Francisco. Coastal winds blow Bay Area smog east, where it gets trapped in the valley, particularly in the southern section, which is surrounded by mountains on three sides. The haze this day had come on the heels of a week of dangerously high levels of ozone and fine particle matter called PM-2.5—a hazardous mix of chemicals, microscopic soot, and assorted debris—that sometimes tasted of metal and smoke. According to the EPA, twelve micrograms of PM-2.5 in the air is a “good” rating. Over seventy-five is considered “unhealthy.” A few days earlier, PM-2.5 concentrations had spiked at 122 micrograms per cubic meter.

那些沙塵不全然是乾旱造成的，而是聖地牙哥的污染。海風把海灣區的煙霧向東吹，那些煙霧就卡在聖華金谷，特別是三面環山的南部。當天的煙霧出現之前，該區其實有一個禮拜臭氧濃度過高和過多叫做PM-2.5的細懸浮粒子---這些混雜在一起的化學物質、懸浮煙灰以及各種髒粒子都會危害人體---有時嚐起來像金屬和煙味。根據美國環保署（EPA），空氣中PM2.5若只有12微克，空氣品質就屬“優等”。若超過75微克，就是“有害健康”。幾天前，PM2.5的濃度已躍升至122微克／立方公尺。

單字：

1. wine grapes：釀酒葡萄

2. table grapes：食用／餐飲葡萄

3. lettuce：生菜，萵苣

4. groundwater：地下水

5. water table：地下水位

6. executive order：行政命令

7. Death Valley：死亡谷

8. Monument Valley：紀念碑谷

9. Canyon de Chelly：笛簫谷

10. Not if one can help：除非不得已，不然不會做某事

11. to-go：外帶

12. thick rimmed glasses：粗框眼鏡

佳句（寫作可用喔）：

1. A white wooden fence circled the Starbucks parking lot, as if to counteract the irritation of long drive-through lines with the illusion of the pastoral.

2. In the San Emigdio Mountains to the southwest, native oaks spill down ravines, breaking the golden slopes with threads of green.

3. At sunset any time of year, the sky casts everything a rock-rose pink.