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Kenya’s lakes are vital to the country’s people, economy and wildlife.
肯尼亚的湖泊对该国的人民、经济和野生动物都至关重要。
A few are salt lakes, which sustain abundant marine and bird life -- among them, flamingos, endangered species of eagles and vultures, and cranes -- as well as local industries.
有几个是盐湖，它们维持着丰富的海洋和鸟类生命--其中有火烈鸟、濒危物种鹰和秃鹫以及鹤--以及当地的工业。
Lake Magadi provides more sodium carbonate – used in cleaning products, food production and glass manufacturing – than anywhere else in Africa.
马加迪湖提供的碳酸钠--用于清洁产品、食品生产和玻璃制造--比非洲其他地方都要多。
Other Kenyan lakes – Turkana, Baringo and Naivasha – are freshwater, and support the roughly 1 million people who live near them.
肯尼亚的其他湖泊--图尔卡纳湖、巴林戈湖和奈瓦沙湖--都是淡水湖，供养着附近大约100万居民。
Water from Lake Naivasha supports most of Kenya’s flower industry.
奈瓦沙湖的水支持着肯尼亚的大部分花卉产业。
Kenya is the third-largest exporter of cut flowers in the world, and 70% of these flowers go to Europe.
肯尼亚是世界上第三大切花出口国，这些花的70%出口到欧洲。
Over the past decade, as these lakes have risen, they have become a source of alarm rather than pride.
在过去的十年里，随着这些湖泊水位的上升，它们已经成为一个警报而不是骄傲的来源。
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes.
数十万人被迫离开他们的家园。
And this seems to be just the start of the disaster.
而这似乎只是灾难的开始。
A recent UN report about Lake Turkana declared that flooding, which was until recently considered a rare event, “is likely to become more regular” unless adaptation measures are put in place.
联合国最近一份关于图尔卡纳湖的报告宣布，直到最近还被认为是罕见事件的洪水，"可能会变得更加频繁"，除非适应措施到位。
Last year, I spent a few weeks travelling across Kenya to see the rising lakes for myself.
去年，我花了几周时间在肯尼亚各地旅行，亲眼目睹了不断上升的湖泊。
From Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, I first drove north-west to Nakuru, 100 miles from Nairobi, descending steep escarpments and into the Rift valley.
从肯尼亚首都内罗毕出发，我首先向西北行驶到纳库鲁，那里距离内罗毕100英里，沿着陡峭的悬崖峭壁下行，进入东非大裂谷。
Then I drove 60 miles north to Marigat, the nearest big town to Lake Baringo and Lake Bogoria, where Onywere had begun his research.
然后，我驱车向北60英里到达马里加特，这是距离巴林戈湖和博戈里亚湖最近的大镇，奥尼韦尔在这里开始了他的研究。
On my first day in town, I met George Okeyo, the ranking education official in the area.
到镇上的第一天，我见到了乔治-奥凯奥，他是该地区的高级教育官员。
Okeyo settled into his plush leather office chair and began to speak.
奥凯奥在坐在他那张毛绒皮革办公椅上，开始说话。
The rapid expansion of Lake Baringo had started in December 2019, he told me.
他告诉我，巴林戈湖的快速扩张于2019年12月开始。
Baringo is a desert area but for about three months, until March 2020, there had been heavy downpours.
巴林戈是一个沙漠地区，但在大约三个月内，直到2020年3月，一直有大雨。
Residents of the area expected that when the rain stopped, the lake would retreat.
该地区的居民预计，雨停后，湖水会退去。
Instead, it kept rising.
相反，它不断上升。
In March 2020, as Covid spread, schools across the country closed.
2020年3月，随着疫情的蔓延，全国各地的学校都关闭了。
When they reopened seven months later, 11 schools in Marigat had been completely submerged by the lake.
七个月后重新开学时，马里加特的11所学校已经完全被湖水淹没。
In one school, from their desks, the students could see hippos frolicking.
在一所学校，学生们从课桌的位置就可以看到河马在嬉戏。
Okeyo told me that crocodiles had killed two children who had been playing at one of the schools before they reopened.
奥凯奥告诉我，在其中一所学校重新开学之前，有两个在那里玩耍的孩子被鳄鱼咬死了。
To deter these animals, thorny poisonous mathenge trees were planted to serve as walls.
为了阻止这些动物，学校种植了带刺的有毒马蹄铁树，作为围墙。
But there were multiple news stories of other crocodile and hippo attacks in the area.
但是，该地区还有多起鳄鱼和河马袭击事件的新闻报道。
