As the Southern Hemisphere enters summer, a catastrophic bushfire season is well underway on Australia's east coast. Homes have been destroyed, koalas are dying, and there's currently a thick smog of smoke blanketing parts of the state of New South Wales.
随着南半球进入夏季，澳大利亚东部海岸爆发灾难性的森林大火。房子被烧毁，考拉相继死去，目前浓烟笼罩着新南威尔士州部分地区。

Some think the effects of the extensive fires could even be travelling across the ocean, ending up on New Zealand's glaciers.
一些人认为大面积火灾甚至会波及大洋彼岸，影响到新西兰的冰川。

Travel writer and photographer Liz Carlson took these beautiful and sad photos while on a helicopter tour in Mount Aspiring National Park in New Zealand's South Island.
旅行作家兼摄影师Liz Carlson乘直升机在新西兰南岛的阿斯派灵山国家公园拍到了这些美丽而伤感的照片。

"It's pretty remarkable to see the impact of the fires from so far away," she wrote on her blog Young Adventuress.
她在她的博客《Young Adventuress》上写道：“真的是很不寻常，竟然在这么远的地方看到大火的影响。”

"Our glaciers don't need any more battles as they are already truly endangered; it puts the impact of climate change into even more stark reality we can't ignore."
“我们的冰川已经很脆弱了，不堪一击；它让我们看到了气候变暖这个残酷事实的影响了，我们无法熟视无睹。”

Currently we don't know what exactly is causing the red colouring. Speaking to the local news website Stuff, NIWA principal scientist and forecaster Chris Brandolino speculates it could be soot or a carbon material from burnt wood.
目前我们不知道它到底为什么变成了红色。新西兰国家水资源与大气研究所的首席科学家兼预报员Chris Brandolino对当地新闻网站Stuff说，据推测可能是烧焦的木头产生的煤烟或碳材料造成的。

However, it could also just be red dust blown over from Australia, a phenomenon that's been observed before. Australian topsoil is rich in iron oxides, giving it its characteristic red hue.
但也可能只是从澳大利亚吹过来的红色烟尘，此前观察到过这种现象。澳大利亚地表土富含氧化铁，呈现出特有的红色。

Among the bushfires, Australia has also seen some heavy dust storms; last month in Mildura, Victoria, a storm turned the sky a dramatic red while the temperature climbed to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
澳大利亚的森林大火也伴有严重的沙尘暴。上个月维多利亚州米尔迪拉出现沙尘暴时，天空都变成了特殊的红色，气温攀升到了40摄氏度（104华氏度）。

 

翻译：菲菲