As a supercharged climate scorches Europe with wildfire and deluges Asia with floods, the Amazon is bracing for a drought that strikes fear into the hearts of forest defenders and food producers alike.(当极端气候以野火炙烤欧洲、以洪水淹没亚洲之际，亚马逊正面临一场干旱，这让森林保护者和粮食生产者都忧心忡忡。) But it should worry even more of us.
当极端气候以野火炙烤欧洲、以洪水淹没亚洲之际，亚马逊正面临一场干旱，这让森林保护者和粮食生产者都忧心忡忡。但这场干旱理应引起我们更多人的担忧。
Scientists are predicting that the peak of El Niño will occur at the worst possible time for the world’s biggest tropical rainforest: the end of the dry season between October and December, when rivers are at their lowest and undergrowth is most likely to be tinder dry.(科学家预测，厄尔尼诺的顶峰将出现在世界最大热带雨林最糟糕的时刻：10月至12月旱季末期，此时河流水位最低，林下植被最可能干枯如柴。) This will be a period of extreme vulnerability(脆弱性，易受伤害性) for the forest, which plays a globally important role in stabilising(使稳定，使稳固) the climate and irrigating(灌溉) crops.
科学家预测，厄尔尼诺现象的顶峰将出现在世界最大热带雨林最糟糕的时刻：10月至12月旱季末期，此时河流水位最低，林下植被最可能干枯如柴。这将是森林极度脆弱的时期，而这片森林在稳定气候和灌溉农作物方面发挥着全球性的重要作用。
The planet’s life-support system is already reeling(踉跄，受重创) from a double whammy(双重打击，祸不单行). Human-driven climate disruption, caused by burning fossil fuels and trees, is relentlessly(无情地，持续地) heating the world and amplifying(放大，增强) extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and storms. On top of this long-term trend is the latest El Niño, a naturally occurring phenomenon(现象) of high Pacific Ocean temperatures that leads to warming – and drought and fire – for much of the rest of the world.
地球的生命支持系统已经受到双重打击。由燃烧化石燃料和砍伐树木造成的人为气候破坏，正在无情地加热地球，并放大热浪和风暴等极端天气事件。在这一长期趋势之上，是最新的厄尔尼诺现象——一种自然发生的太平洋高温现象，会导致世界其他大部分地区变暖、干旱和火灾。