Passersby could smell the dead fish before they saw them. In August, more than 3,000 pike, roach, carp and rudd were found lifeless(无生命的，死的) along the River Wensum in Norwich. Some gasped(喘气，急促呼吸) for air in their final moments, desperate for the oxygen that heatwave conditions had depleted(耗尽，大量减少) in the water. Investigators believe that the die-off was triggered by heavy rainfall that flushed through high concentrations of pollution at a time when wildlife were already struggling.(调查人员认为，这场鱼类大量死亡是由强降雨引发的——雨水冲刷了高浓度的污染物，而当时野生动物本已苦苦挣扎。)
路人还没看到死鱼，就先闻到了气味。今年8月，诺里奇温瑟姆河沿岸发现3000多条狗鱼、拟鲤、鲤鱼和红眼鱼死亡。有些鱼在生命的最后时刻大口喘气，拼命呼吸着热浪条件下水中已耗尽的氧气。调查人员认为，这场鱼类大量死亡是由强降雨引发的——雨水冲刷了高浓度的污染物，而当时野生动物本已苦苦挣扎。
The 45-mile (70km) chalk(白垩，石灰岩) river is one of about 250 in the country. They are a geological accident almost unique to Britain – and one of Earth’s rarest habitats. They emerge from chalk aquifers(含水层) and are home to species such as freshwater shrimp, otters and stoneflies, also providing drinking water for millions of people. But just 11 have formal protection, with many ravaged(毁坏，蹂躏) by sewage pollution and overextraction(过度开采，过度取水). The Norfolk river is one of the few that does have legal protection, but it is in poor ecological health(生态状况不佳).
这条45英里（70公里）长的白垩河是全英约250条白垩河之一。它们是几乎英国独有的地质意外产物，也是地球上最稀有的栖息地之一。白垩河发源于白垩含水层，是淡水虾、水獭和石蝇等物种的家园，还为数百万人提供饮用水。但只有11条受到正式保护，许多河流饱受污水污染和过度取水的摧残。诺福克这条河是少数确实拥有法律保护的河流之一，但它的生态状况很差。
“We are a world away from the crystal clear, free flowing and mineral-rich waters they could, and should, be(它们本可以、也本应该是清澈见底、自由流淌、富含矿物质的水域，而我们离那个样子还差得远。),” says Eliot Lyne, head of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
“它们本可以、也本应该是清澈见底、自由流淌、富含矿物质的水域，而我们离那个样子还差得远，”诺福克野生动物信托基金会负责人艾略特·莱恩说。