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There have been nearly 5000 fires in California since the start of 2018.
自2018年以来，加利福尼亚已经发生近5000起火灾。
The fire season has been dominating the news.
火灾多发季节的新闻是铺天盖地。
“This has turned into another record-setting fire season.”
“今年的火险季节又创下了历史新高。”
“Now the largest in state history.”
“如今已经演变成了我国有史以来最大的一场火灾。”
“Really there’s no end in sight.”
“目前看来火势不知何时才会停止。”
It’s hot. It’s dry. It’s windy.
火灾一旦发生，就会又热又干，同时伴随着强风。
Just about everything on the ground is flammable.
地上的一切都变得易燃。
But there’s one thing that’s consistently making wildfires in California worse and worse and worse: Us.
但不断让加利福尼亚的野火变得日益严重的是我们人类。
At this point, even calling them “wild” fires might be a misnomer, because most of them are not natural.
在这里，连“野火”这个词都显得有些用词不当，因为那些火灾大部分都不是自然发生的。
Humans are responsible for starting a whopping 84% of them.
有84％的火灾的罪魁祸首都是人类。
The northern California Carr fire, for example, was started by sparks from a car tire' rim.
例如，加利福尼亚北部的卡尔火灾就是由汽车的轮胎沿擦出的火花引起的。
And in southern California, the Holy Fire just outside of LA started after a suspected arson.
而加利福尼亚州南部洛杉矶郊外发生的圣火火灾被怀疑是有人故意纵火。
These are just two of the fires currently active in the state.
这还只是该州目前发生的两起火灾。
So far in 2018, 629,000 acres have burned.
到2018年的今天为止，加州已有62.9万英亩的土地被烧毁。
That’s nearly 3 times as much compared to the same time period in 2017.
与2017年同期相比，这一数字上升了将近两倍。
What makes these fires so dangerous, damaging, and therefore costly, is that more human-made infrastructure is getting caught in the flames.
让这些火灾变得如此危险，如此具有破坏性，继而成本如此高昂的原因是陷入火情的人造基础设施越来越多了。
This map highlights the parts of California most prone to fires, and it’s no surprise that — yeah — that’s where these fires are.
这张地图突出显示了加利福尼亚州最容易发生火灾的地区，嗯，就是这些有火苗图标的地方。
But compare it to this map, which shows population density growth projections.
但当我们将它与这张人口密度增长预测的地图做个对比时，
Put them together, and it’s clear: California’s population is growing out from urban centers directly into the areas at the highest risk for fire.
把它们重叠起来，我们就能清楚地看到：加州的人口正从城市中心往火灾风险最高的地区扩散。
Meanwhile, the state is spending more and more to fight fires each year, as more people move into areas that put them in harm’s way.
而随着搬到日后可能被火灾伤害的地方的人越来越多，国家每年在救火上的投入也越来越大。
“It’s up to all of us to protect and preserve the forests we have.”
“保护森林是我们每个人的责任。”
So, since we made this mess worse, what can we do?
那么问题来了，既然是我们在火上浇油的，那我们应该怎么办呢？
“‘That’s a good job!’ said Smokey the Bear.”
“‘做得好！’斯莫基熊说道。”
Being mindful of how we spark these fires is a good start,
意识到我们如何引发了这些火灾就是一个很好的开始，
but the bigger problems contributing to this — like man-made climate change — are unlikely to reverse.
但作为“帮凶”的更大的问题 - 如人为的气候变化 - 是不太可能逆转的。
And despite the risks, humans keep moving into these areas.
尽管有风险，人们还在继续往那些地区搬迁。
“Fires creeping real real close to some residences up here.”
“火灾已经非常非常接近此地的居民了。”
“By 2050, another 645,000 houses will be built at areas at very high risk for wildfires.”
“到2050年，野火风险极高的地区还会修建64,5万套房屋。”
We have the opportunity to get out of the way of wildfires, and let nature run its course.
现在，我们是有机会摆脱野火，让大自然走上正轨的。
But will we?
但我们会吗？
“Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”
“只有你能防止森林火灾的发生。”
