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All may seem calm along these beautiful stretches of British coastline. But there is a battle being fought on the beaches of Britain. It's a fight for survival against the mighty force of the North Sea. Erosion of this coastline has been going on for thousands of years. But things have gotten much worse.
沿著這些美麗的英國海岸線，一切似乎都很平靜。而英國的海灘上卻在上演一場斗爭。這是一場對抗強大北海的生存之戰。這條海岸線的侵蝕已經持續數千年了。而情況變得更加糟糕了。
Now, top decisions are being made. Spend millions on defending the battered coastline or abandon huge areas of Britain to the sea.
現在，正在做出最重要的決定。是斥資數百萬美元來保護千瘡百孔的海岸線，還是任由英國大片的土地葬身“海口”。
Here in North Yorkshire, the local and central government has spent a lot of money to defend this battered coastline. "If we didn't defend, while nature would take its course, and we would invariably lose significant amounts of land, Great Britain is a shrinking asset." Many seaside towns have to be protected.
在北約克郡，當地和中央政府花了大量資金來保護這條千瘡百孔的海岸線。“如果我們不保護，那么大自然就會自行其道，我們總是會失去大量的土地，英國是一個不斷縮小的國家。”許多海濱城鎮必須得到保護。
Cliffs are held in place by rock bolts, and new sand added to receding beaches. But the majority of the money goes to building new seawalls and repairing the Victorian and even older ones.
懸崖由石栓固定，新沙加進了不斷縮小的海灘。但是大部分資金都用于建造新的海堤并修復維多利亞時代甚至更古老的海堤。
The sea defences themselves are in a very sorry state. We simply can't continue to pay for all over the crack.
海防工事本身的狀況就很糟糕。我們根本無法繼續向破爛不堪的工事砸錢。
One reason Britain is in such a bad way is its geology. Due to the earth movements after the last Ice Age, the country is gradually tilting. So while Scotland rises, the south of England falls. On top of that, global warming is set to really stir things up. Sea levels in the Southern UK are expected to rise about 1-3 feet by the end of the century.
英國處境如此之糕的原因之一就是它的地質情況。上一次冰河時代過后，由于地層移動，英國逐漸傾斜起來。因此，當蘇格蘭向上升的時候，英格蘭南部卻在下降。除此之外，全球變暖將使情況變得更加嚴重。本世紀末，英國南部的海平面預計會上升約0.3-0.9米。
These are the salt marshes of Essex, just outside of London. Well, here at Essex, the problem simply couldn't be worse. Because we are in the frontline and that we know that we've lost more than 50% of our salt marsh in just 30 years. Salt marshes help to defend the coastline by absorbing the energy of the waves.
這里是倫敦城外的艾塞克斯鹽沼。哎呀，在艾塞克斯，這一問題非常糟糕。因為我們處于前線，并且我們知道在短短的30年里我們就已經失去了一半以上的鹽沼。通過吸收海浪的能量，鹽沼能保護海岸線。
In addition to human development, another process is that have reduced the size of the salt marshes. Flood defenses are preventing them from spreading naturally inland. So instead of building more seawalls, in some places farmland is flooded, and salt marshes recreated, giving natural protection to the coast.
除了人類發展外，另一個進程就是鹽沼規模的減小。防洪就是防止鹽沼向內陸自然擴散。因此，在一些被淹的農田里，鹽沼又重新造了出來，給海岸提供了天然的保護，而不是建造更多的海堤。
Whether the choice is to battle against nature or work with it, the long-term outcome remains unchanged, Britain is an ever shrinking island.
無論是選擇與自然搏斗還是同它結盟，長期的結果依然如故，那就是英國是一個不斷縮小的島嶼。
