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And this burning, well...let's look at the results.
这种燃烧……让我们看看结果。
First, the mines were fairly remote, so there was no way to bring coal or other fuel to keep the fires going.
首先，矿山的位置相当遥远，所以无法带去使火持续燃烧的煤或其他燃料。
So they cut down local trees for fuel. And like I said, the fires burned for months.
所以他们以当地砍下的树作为燃料，正如我所说，火要持续燃烧数月。
Uh...that's a lot of fires and a lot of trees.
需要很多火，也就需要很多树木。
Deforestation was occurring at a rapid rate. And it was accelerated by the smoke from the burning ore.
采伐森林以相当快的速度出现，而矿燃烧的烟雾又加剧了这一进程。
Big clouds of sulfuric smoke, which was toxic to the trees, formed over the areas.
大片的硫磺烟雾云笼罩着这一带，并且对树木产生毒害作用。
Trees that hadn't been cut for fuel were killed by the fumes.
没有被砍伐用作燃料的树木也被烟雾毒死了。
The sulfur also mixed with the air and created sulfur dioxide.
硫磺也会与空气结合，产生二氧化硫。
And the sulfur dioxide settled in the clouds fell to the land in droplets of rain and sank into the soil. This is what we now call acid rain.
二氧化硫升入云里，然后变成雨滴落入地面，侵蚀土壤。这就是我们现在说的酸雨。
You've probably heard of it. But no one used the term back then.
你可能听说过它，但是那时候没人用到这个术语。
Anyway...the acid rain created highly acidic soil.
总之，酸雨造成了高度的酸性土壤。
Well, soon the soil became so acidic that nothing could grow, nothing at all.
很快，土壤会变成酸性，以至于无法种植任何东西。
Vegetation and wild life disappeared.
植被和野生动物消失了。
And it wasn't just the land and the air, it was the water too.
这不仅关乎土地和空气，还会影响水资源。
What do you think happen to the rivers?
你认为河水会发生什么变化？
Well, there are no trees to absorb the rain, and there was a lot of rain!
没有了吸收雨水的树木，就会产生大量的雨水！
So the rain eroded the soil and swept it into the rivers.
所以雨水侵蚀土壤，将它冲进河里。
This is called silting, when soil particles are washed into the rivers.
当土壤微粒被冲进河里时，这就叫做淤泥沉积。
And the silting continued at an alarming rate.
淤泥沉积继续以惊人的速度发展。
But this was toxic soil and toxic runoff, the acid and metals in the soil made the once clear rivers flow bright orange.
但这是有毒的土壤和径流，土壤中的酸和金属使曾经干净的河水变为橙黄色。
So it was really that one step in the process of producing copper...the problems just built up and up until there was a desert where a beautiful forest used to be.
所以因为铜矿生产过程的一小步导致问题不断增加，直到曾经美丽的森林变为沙漠。
OK. Now let's look at reforestation and land reclamation efforts.
好，现在让我们看看重新造林和土地开垦的工作。
