希腊科罗尼亚湖，10月1日电 —— 在干旱来袭之前，希腊北部的科罗尼亚湖是一处受保护的湿地，是包括火烈鸟在内的数千只候鸟和水鸟的栖息地，也是游客、当地渔民和农民的聚集地。
LAKE KORONEIA, Greece, Oct 1 - Before drought took hold, Koroneia Lake in northern Greece was a protected wetland, a refuge for thousands of migratory and water birds including flamingos, and a magnet for tourists as well as local fishermen and farmers.
如今，经过十年的少雨和过度灌溉，曾为希腊第五大湖的科罗尼亚湖已缩水至原面积的不足十分之一，据雅典国家天文台数据显示。剩余湖水聚集在一系列浑浊的水潭中，裸露的湖床变成了一片广阔的泥滩，经历多年烈日暴晒，干裂发白。
Today, after a decade of low rainfall and over-irrigation, Koroneia, once the fifth largest lake in Greece, has shrunk to less than a tenth of its original size, according to data from the National Observatory of Athens. The water that remains is collected in a series of murky ponds and the exposed lake bed is a vast mud plain cracked and bleached by years of baking sun.
该地区已成为气候变化和干旱冲击希腊北部的一个缩影，当地降雨日益无常，农民越来越绝望地从湖中抽水灌溉农作物。今夏这一问题波及欧洲大部分地区，热浪和低雨量导致河流和湖泊水位降至数十年来未见的水平，影响了货物运输并削减了能源产出。
The area has become a symbol of how climate change and drought are impacting northern Greece, where rainfall has become more erratic and where farmers are increasingly desperate to pump lake water onto their crops. The problem affected much of Europe this summer, when heatwaves and low rainfall shrank rivers and lakes to levels not seen in decades, impacting the delivery of goods and curtailing energy output.
“我们见过湖泊的美好时光，有渔民、充沛的水量、美好的公园，还有鸟类飞翔的优美景色。如今所见，令人失望，”湖畔社区阿吉奥斯·瓦西利奥斯负责人科斯塔斯·哈齐武尔加里迪斯说。
"We knew the lake in its good days, with fishermen, with plenty of water, a wonderful park, and beautiful scenes with birds. Today, what we see is a disappointment," said Costas Hatzivoulgaridis, the head of lakeside community Agios Vassilios.
少雨酷热造成重创 科学家表示，湖泊水资源在2015至2016年一个多雨季节后开始枯竭。随后数年少雨且气温偏高，不仅蒸发了湖水，也让曾经补给湖泊的泉水干涸。
LOW RAINFALL, HOTTER WEATHER TAKE HEAVY TOLL Scientists say the lake's water resources started dwindling after a rainy 2015 to 2016 season. Years of low rainfall and above-average heat have since evaporated not only the lake water but also the springs that used to feed it.
雅典国家天文台发布的卫星图像显示，湖泊面积已从2016年的34.4平方公里缩减至2.7平方公里。
Satellite images published by the National Observatory of Athens show that its surface has shrunk to 2.7 square kilometres from 34.4 square kilometres in 2016.
湖泊水位下降的主要因素无疑是其流域的年降雨量，过去至少五年间，该流域年均降雨量约为400毫米（15.75英寸），国家湿地中心水资源管理与气候变化负责人迪米特里斯·帕帕季莫斯在塞萨洛尼基的办公室里表示，这比前几十年少了约150毫米。
"The main factor behind the lake's falling level is certainly annual rainfall in its catchment, which has averaged about 400 millimeters (15.75 inches) over at least the last five years. That is about 150 millimeters less than in previous decades," said Dimitris Papadimos, head of water resources management and climate change at the National Wetland Center, from his office in Thessaloniki.
此外，他表示，近年来随着当地平均气温升高，蒸发量每年增加了100至150毫米。
Moreover, as average local temperatures have climbed in recent years, evaporation has increased by 100 to 150 millimeters a year, he said.
当地人和官员表示，这个问题部分是人为造成的。农民因牲畜和农作物急需用水，长期以来一直利用湖水来弥补降雨减少的不足。
The problem is partly man-made. Farmers desperate for water for their cattle and crops have long used the lake to make up for less rainfall, locals and officials said.
上个月，当路透社记者前往采访时，一名农民正在用一台大型水泵将湖里剩下的水抽到自己的田地里。
When a Reuters reporter visited last month, a farmer was using a giant pump to suck water from what is left of the lake onto his fields.
当局表示，自2013年欧盟法院裁定希腊未能保护科罗内亚湖免受过度灌溉、非法钻井取水和污染以来，他们已采取了行动。
Authorities say they have taken action since a European Union court ruled in 2013 that Greece had failed to protect Koroneia against over-irrigation, illegal water drilling and pollution.
希腊环境与能源部水资源秘书长佩特罗斯·瓦雷利迪斯告诉路透社，目前已加强监管以减少灌溉用水。
The secretary general for water resources at the Greek Environment Ministry, Petros Varelidis, told Reuters that greater monitoring was now in place to reduce irrigation.