Europe’s summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat

欧洲夏季干旱极其严重，荒漠化威胁日益加剧

Small boats stand idle on cracked ground in a shriveled side channel of the Danube River in northern Serbia, where the water has receded into a couple of shrinking ponds under pressure from extreme drought and heat. Fish circle in the shallow waters. 在塞尔维亚北部多瑙河的一条干涸支流中，小船停泊在龟裂的河床上，受极端干旱和高温影响，河水已退缩成几个不断缩小的水塘。鱼儿在浅水中游弋。

“This is all we have, these two little ponds that are full of juvenile fish,” fisherman Dusan Jovanovic said. He said the fish are in danger because there is too little water and its temperature is over 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). “If they start to die, they will all die at once,” Jovanovic said. “这就是我们仅剩的一切，这两个装满鱼苗的小水塘，”渔民杜尚·约万诺维奇（Dusan Jovanovic）说。他表示，由于水量太少且水温超过30摄氏度（86华氏度），这些鱼正处于危险之中。“如果它们开始死亡，就会全部死掉，”约万诺维奇说。

Persistent drought and scorching heat this summer have ravaged ecosystems and businesses across the region, from a lake in Slovenia and the side channel of the Danube in Serbia, to fish farms in Bosnia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary. The fish industry has been hit especially hard, with damage estimated in the millions of euros (dollars). This is adding to the already high toll caused by problems with energy and water supplies, devastated crops, losses in river traffic and trade. 今年夏天持续的干旱和酷热摧毁了该地区的生态系统和商业活动，从斯洛文尼亚的湖泊和塞尔维亚的多瑙河支流，到波斯尼亚、捷克、罗马尼亚和匈牙利的养鱼场，无一幸免。渔业受到的打击尤为严重，损失估计达数百万欧元（美元）。这加剧了能源和供水问题、农作物受损以及内河航运和贸易损失所带来的沉重代价。

Finding themselves unprepared for this year’s crisis, countries and businesses are now pondering ways to minimize the effects of future extreme weather events that scientists have tied to human-induced climate change. 由于对今年的危机准备不足，各国和企业目前正在思考如何最大限度地减少未来极端天气事件的影响，科学家们已将这些事件与人类活动引起的气候变化联系起来。

Hungary’s fish die as entire country faces extreme drought

匈牙利全国面临极端干旱，鱼类大量死亡

Around 99% of Hungary’s lands are currently under severe or extreme drought conditions, according to the national meteorological service. Desertification, a process where vegetation recedes because of high heat and low rainfall, threatens much of the Great Hungarian Plain. 据匈牙利国家气象局称，该国约99%的土地目前处于严重或极端干旱状态。荒漠化——即因高温和降雨稀少导致植被退化的过程——正威胁着匈牙利大平原的大部分地区。

Among the most affected are Hungary’s roughly 27,000 hectares (67,000 acres) of fish ponds. The country’s Agriculture and Food Economy Ministry said last week that “persistent heat and water shortages” had led to 1,588 hectares (3,924 acres) of those ponds drying out, causing the deaths of nearly 280 metric tons of fish at 20 farms. The estimated revenue loss from the damage was 1.3 billion forints ($4.2 million), the ministry said. Producers say replacing lost fish could take years. 受影响最严重的是匈牙利约2.7万公顷（6.7万英亩）的鱼塘。匈牙利农业和食品经济部上周表示，“持续的高温和缺水”已导致其中1588公顷（3924英亩）的鱼塘干涸，造成20个养殖场的近280公吨鱼类死亡。该部称，此次损失的估计收入损失为13亿福林（约合420万美元）。生产商表示，补充损失的鱼类可能需要数年时间。

Sometimes, operators were forced to drain one pond and divert its water to save fish in another, the Hungarian Aquaculture and Fisheries Inter-branch Organization said in early August. 匈牙利水产养殖和渔业跨行业组织在8月初表示，有时经营者被迫排干一个池塘，将水引流到另一个池塘以挽救鱼类。

Repeated drought over years hurts Romanian fish farmers

多年反复干旱重创罗马尼亚渔民

For fish farmers in Romania, especially those cultivating carp, this year’s blistering heatwave follows severe droughts in 2023 and 2024, the effects of which are still being felt, says Catalin Platon, president of ROMFISH National Association of Fish Producers. In carp production, Platon said, the production cycle is three or four years. “So what we lost in 2023 has (had an) impact every year since,” he explained. Water-use policies that prioritized irrigation for agriculture during the previous droughts, “left us with no water for the fish,” Platon complained. 罗马尼亚国家鱼类生产商协会（ROMFISH）主席卡塔林·普拉顿（Catalin Platon）表示，对于罗马尼亚的渔民，尤其是鲤鱼养殖户来说，今年的酷热浪潮紧随2023年和2024年的严重干旱而来，其影响至今仍能感受到。普拉顿说，鲤鱼的生产周期为三到四年。“所以我们在2023年的损失对之后每一年都有影响，”他解释道。普拉顿抱怨说，在之前的干旱期间，优先考虑农业灌溉的用水政策“让我们没有水来养鱼”。

Czech fish farmers take emergency measures

捷克渔民采取紧急措施

Fish farmers across the Czech Republic have taken various emergency measures: reducing or suspending feeding to reduce oxygen use, aerating the ponds or draining them when necessary. The Czech Fishing Association officials say sustained rainfall could ease the immediate crisis, but long-term measures are needed to retain more water in the landscape. 捷克各地的渔民采取了各种紧急措施：减少或暂停喂食以降低氧气消耗，对池塘进行曝气，或在必要时排干池塘。捷克渔业协会官员表示，持续降雨可以缓解当前的危机，但需要采取长期措施来保持景观中的更多水分。

Jan Sokolik, a technician at the Rybarstvi Trebon fishery, explained that “some ponds that were actually low on water have already been fished, but they were all marginal ponds.” “Now we’re just starting to plan what to do with the big ponds,” he said. 特热邦（Rybarstvi Trebon）渔场的技术员扬·索科利克（Jan Sokolik）解释说：“一些水位确实很低的池塘已经完成了捕捞，但它们都是边缘池塘。”他说：“现在我们才刚刚开始计划如何处理大池塘。”

Bosnian trout breeders ‘looking to survive summer’

波斯尼亚鳟鱼养殖户“寻求度过夏天”

Veljko Budjen owns a trout farm near Trebinje in southeast Bosnia. He said hot and dry summers have brought serious problems in the mainly mountainous country famous for its trout restaurants. “Trout is a cold water fish, which requires cold water with a lot of oxygen,” he said. “So during the summer you are forced to reduce trout production and feeding so the business can just barely survive.” One option, he said, is to add liquid oxygen to the water during summer months. Otherwise, he said, “you wait for the first rain.” 维尔科·布坚（Veljko Budjen）在波斯尼亚东南部特雷比涅附近拥有一家鳟鱼养殖场。他说，炎热干燥的夏季给这个以鳟鱼餐厅闻名的多山国家带来了严重问题。“鳟鱼是一种冷水鱼，需要含氧量高的冷水，”他说。“所以夏天你被迫减少鳟鱼的产量和喂食，这样生意才能勉强维持。”他说，一个选择是在夏季向水中添加液氧。否则，他说，“你就只能等待第一场雨。”

Slovenians pump water into a lake in an attempt to save fish

斯洛文尼亚人向湖中抽水以拯救鱼类

Emergency teams have been pumping water into Lake Pristava in eastern Slovenia, a favorite spot for fishermen, to try to prevent a mass suffocation of fish from lack of oxygen and water chestnut overgrowing to cover the lake surface. Firefighters have pumped in 8 million liters (2 million gallons) of water but they still fear it’s not enough. “We are surprised that any fish has survived at all,” Danijel Fras, from the Pesnica Lenart Fishing Association, told public broadcaster RTV Slovenia. 应急小组一直在向斯洛文尼亚东部的普里斯塔瓦湖（Lake Pristava）抽水，这里是渔民们最喜欢的地方，目的是防止鱼类因缺氧和菱角过度生长覆盖湖面而大量窒息死亡。消防员已经抽入了800万升（200万加仑）的水，但他们仍然担心这还不够。“我们很惊讶竟然还有鱼能活下来，”来自佩斯尼察-莱纳特（Pesnica Lenart）渔业协会的丹尼尔·弗拉斯（Danijel Fras）告诉公共广播公司斯洛文尼亚广播电视台（RTV Slovenia）。

In Serbia, fishermen said the only solution for the endangered fish in the Danube side channel in Novi Sad is to move them to another location. “The temperatures this year are extreme,” Jovanovic, the Serbian fisherman, said. “No one can remember anything like this.” 在塞尔维亚，渔民们表示，对于诺维萨德多瑙河支流中濒临危险的鱼类，唯一的解决办法就是将它们转移到其他地方。“今年的气温太极端了，”塞尔维亚渔民约万诺维奇说。“没人记得有过这样的情况。”