首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
A new catastrophe faces Afghanistan. The American bombing campaign is conspiring with years of civil conflict and drought to cre
A new catastrophe faces Afghanistan. The American bombing campaign is conspiring with years of civil conflict and drought to cre
admin
2011-05-29
81
问题
A new catastrophe faces Afghanistan. The American bombing campaign is conspiring with years of civil conflict and drought to create an environmental crisis.
Humanitarian and political concerns are dominating the headlines. But they are also masking the disappearance of the country’s once rich habitat and wildlife, which are quietly being crashed by war. The UN is dispatching a team of investigators to the region next month to evaluate the damage. "A healthy environment is a prerequisite for rehabitation," says Klaus Topfer, head of the UN Environment Programme.
Much of south-east Afghanistan was once lush forest watered by monsoon rains. Forests now cover less than two per cent of the country. "The worst deforestation occurred during Taliban role, when its timber mafia denuded forests to sell to Pakistani markets," says Usman Qazi, an environmental consultant based in Quetta, Pakistan. And the intense bombing intended to flush out the last of the Taliban troops is destroying or burning much of what remains.
The refugee crisis is also wrecking the environment, and much damage may be irreversible. Forests and vegetation are being cleared for much-needed fanning, but the gains are likely to be only short-term. "Eventually the land will be unfit for even the most basic form of agriculture," warns Hammad Naqi of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Pakistan. Refugees—around 4 million as the last count—are also cutting into forests for firewood.
The hail of bombs falling on Afghanistan is making life particularly hard for the country’s wildlife. Birds such as the pelican and endangered Siberian crone cross eastern Afghanistan as they follow one of the world’s great migratory thoroughfares from Siberia to Pakistan and India. But the number of the birds flying across the region has dropped by a staggering 85 per cent. "Cranes are very sensitive and they do not use the route if they see any danger," says Ashiq Ahgmad, an environmental scientist for the WWF in Peshawar, Pakistan, who has tracked the collapse of the birds, migration this winter.
The rugged mountains also usually provide a safe haven for mountain leopards, gazelles, bears and Marco Polo sheep—the world’s largest species. "The same terrain that allows fighters to strike and disappear back into the hills has also historically enabled wildlife to survive," says Peter Zahler of the Wildlife Conservation society, based in New York. But he warns they are now under intense pressure from the bombing and invasions of refugees and fighters.
For instance, some refugees are hunting rare snow leopards to buy a safe passage across the border. A single fur can fetch $2, 000 on the black market, says Zahlen Only 5,000 or so snow leopards are thought to survive in central Asia, and less than 100 in Afghanistan, their numbers already decimated by extensive hunting and smuggling into Pakistan before the conflict. Timber, falcons and medicinal plants are also being smuggled across the border. The Taliban once controlled much of this trade, but the recent power vacuum could exacerbate the problem.
Bombing will also leave its mark beyond the obvious craters. Defence analysts says that while depleted uranium has been used less in Afghanistan that in the Kosovo conflict, conventional explosives will litter the country with pollutants. They contain toxic compounds such as cyclonite, a carcinogen, and rocket propellants contain perchlorates, which damage thyroid glands.
All of the following are causes of the environmental crisis in Afghanistan EXCEPT ______.
选项
A、American bombing.
B、heavy monsoon rains.
C、years of lack of rain.
D、fighting among the Afghanis.
答案
B
解析
这一道题是针对文章的第一句话提问的,A、C、D三个选项的内容在这一句话里都讲到了,即bombing campaign, years of civil war, years of drought。monsoon rains在第三段里才提到,但并不是导致生态危机的原因。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/RH6O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Lookatthechartsbelow.TheyshowthesalesoftelephonesindifferentdepartmentstoresfromMondaytoWednesday.Whichc
Lookatthechartsbelow.TheyshowthesalesoftelephonesindifferentdepartmentstoresfromMondaytoWednesday.Whichc
Lookatthegraphsbelow.Theyshowunemploymentineightdifferentregionscomparedtothenationalaverage.Whichregiond
Forallpersonalcallsexceptemergencies,pleaseusepayphoneinReception.
Pleasedownloadthecreditcardpaymentformfromtheconferencewebsite,(www.wetting.de/ew-workshop.htm),fillitoutandfa
To…AllstaffSubject:WarningToavoidlossofinformationduringthepredictedovernightpowercut,pleaseremembertoshutdown
ThemilitaryaspectoftheUnitedStatesCivilWarhasalwaysattractedthemostattentionfromscholars.Theroarofgunfire,t
Theyearof776BCisconsideredtobethefoundingdateoftheOlympicGamesinancientGreece.TheGameslastedmorethan11c
If(allowedto)turnyellow,whilestillontheplant,bananaslosetheir(characteristically)goodflavor,theskin(breakopen
随机试题
Web2.0的主要代表技术有
A.β-受体阻滞剂B.氢氯噻嗪C.硝苯地平D.卡托普利E.哌唑嗪
房地产开发企业应当自领取营业执照之日起30日内,持下列()文件到登记机关所在地的房地产开发主管部门备案。
某项目的财务评价可行,而国民经济评价不可行,则该项目()。
开发区规划方案分析的内容包括()。
证券市场是财产权利直接交换的场所。()
生态整体主义的核心思想是:“把生态系统的整体利益作为最高价值而不是把人类的利益作为最高价值,把是否有利于维持和保护生态系统的完整、和谐、稳定、平衡和持续存在作为衡量一切事物的根本尺度,作为评判人类生活方式、科技进步、经济增长和社会发展的终极标准。”作为一种
改革开放以来的伟大实践和所取得的巨大成就无可争辩地证明,中国特色经济体制是决定当代中国命运的关键抉择,是发展中国特色社会主义、实现中华民族复兴的必由之路。()
Humansareuniqueintheextenttowhichtheycanreflectonthemselvesandothers.Humansareableto【C1】______.tothinkinab
A、TheWorldBank.B、BankofWashington.C、AUSfinancecorporation.D、AninvestmentbankinNewYork.A对话中,女士说这份新工作是由华盛顿的一家国际重建与
最新回复
(
0
)