Lesson 5 what causes flooding洪水是怎样形成的.docVIP

Lesson 5 what causes flooding洪水是怎样形成的 What causes flooding? The basic cause is excessive runoff from catchment s into river systems incapable of carrying this extra volume. Can science and technology prevent flooding or, at least, reduce its severity ? Unfortunately, this is a complex problem to which as yet there is no very satisfactory solution.洪水是怎样形成的？根本的原因是流域内过多的径流汇入河系，超过了河系的承载能力。科学技术能防止洪水发生吗？或者至少能降低洪水的危害吗？遗憾的是，这是一个迄今为止还没有满意答复的复杂问题。 Let us consider first the reduction of runoff from catchment areas. Some regions have soils which have low absorbing capacity. In a heavy rainstorm such soil is quickly saturated and all additional rainfall then runs off into the river. A seasonal variable is the moisture status of the soil at the commencement of a rainstorm. If the soil is already moist, a relatively minor storm could still cause heavy runoff because the soil is incapable of retaining additional moisture. These factors are not easily influenced by man. However, man’s utilization of the catchment area can have an important influence on flooding. Large scale cleaning of trees and scrub greatly reduces the capacity of the soil to retain water. It also tends to cause soil erosion which aggravates flooding by chocking rivers and streams with deposited silt. Correct management of catchment areas is therefore one important approach to the problem of flood control. 让我们首先考虑一下如何减少流域的径流。有些地区的土壤吸水能力很低。下暴雨时，这种土壤很快就饱和了，多余的雨水全部流入河道。季节性的变量就是暴雨开始时土壤的水分状态。如果土壤已经湿润，较小的暴雨也会引起大量的径流，因为这种土壤已不能保持更多的水分。这些因素不易受人类的影响。然而，人类对流域土地的利用情况会对洪水产生重要影响。大规模地砍伐树木会降低土壤保持水分的能力。砍伐树木也会加剧土壤侵蚀，导致河道淤塞，从而加剧了洪水。所以对流域正确的开发利用是控制洪水的一项重要方法。 More direct approach which is used in an emergency is the construction of levee s. when rising floodwaters threaten a township the citizens form work-parties to build barricade s of sandbags along the river bank, hoping that those barricades will hold back the flood waters until the emergency passes. It may be wandered why levees are not usually built as permanent structures to