A drought is endangering communities in the Amazon, a large rainforest in South America.
干旱正在危及亚马逊社区，这里是南美洲的大片雨林地区。
Public officials in Brazil are attempting to transport food and water to thousands of distant communities. The situation is more complex as the area has few roads. Boats are the main transportation to these communities.
巴西政府官员正试图将食物和水运送到数千个遥远的社区。由于该地区道路稀少，情况更加复杂。船只是前往这些社区的主要交通工具。
Across the huge Amazonas state 59 out of its 62 municipalities are under a state of emergency. About 633,000 people are affected. In the capital Manaus, the large Negro river is at its lowest level since official measurements began 121 years ago. The Negro flows into the Amazon River.
在庞大的亚马逊州，62个市镇中有59个处于紧急状态。约633000人受到影响。在该州首府马瑙斯，庞大的内格罗河处于121年前开始官方测量以来的最低水位。内格罗河流入亚马逊河。
The city of Careiro da Varzea is in great need. It lies by the Amazon River not far from Manaus. Recently, the municipality gave out emergency supplies. The city used a boat that normally transports farm animals.
卡雷鲁达瓦尔泽阿市急需援助。它位于离马瑙斯不远的亚马逊河旁。最近，市政府发放了应急物资。该市使用了一艘通常运送农场动物的船。
The Associated Press joined on transport operations to two communities.
美联社加入了前往两个社区的运输行动。
Each family received a basic food supply and 20 liters of water. It was enough for just a few days, but difficult to carry in the heat.
每个家庭都得到了基本的食物和20升水。这只够吃几天，但在高温下很难携带。
"I will have to carry the food package on my back for half an hour," Moisés Batista de Souza told the AP. He owns a small farm in Sao Lazaro community. He said the biggest problem is getting drinkable water. He has to walk a long way for that, he says.
摩西·巴蒂斯塔·德·索萨告诉美联社：“我将不得不背着食物包走上半个小时。”他在圣拉匝禄社区拥有一个小农场。他说，最大的问题是获得可饮用的水。他说，为了这个，他必须走很远的路。
"Everybody in Careiro da Varzea has been affected by the drought," said Jean Costa de Souza. He is chief of Civil Defense of Careiro da Varzea, a municipality of 19,600 people. Most of them live in rural areas.
吉恩·科斯塔·德·索萨说：“卡雷鲁达瓦尔泽阿市的每个人都受到了干旱的影响。”他是拥有1.96万人口的卡雷鲁达瓦尔泽阿市的民防局长。他们大多数生活在农村地区。
"Unfortunately, people don't have water. Some lost their crops, while others couldn't transport their output," he said.
他说：“不幸的是，人们缺水。一些人庄稼断收，而另一些人则无法把他们的产品运出来。”
Costa de Souza reported also that the municipality will complete the first transports to all rural communities next week. The local government is now planning two more transports. They are waiting for state and federal aid.
科斯塔·德·索萨还报告称，该市将于下周完成向所有农村社区的首批运输。当地政府现在正计划再进行两次运输。他们正在等待州和联邦的援助。
Periods of dry weather are part of the Amazon's usual weather pattern. Lighter rainfall happens from May to October for most of the rainforest.
干旱期是亚马逊地区常见天气模式的一部分。大部分雨林在5月至10月间降雨量较低。
This year's dry season is longer because of two different weather events: the warming of northern Equatorial Atlantic Ocean waters and El Nino. El Nino is the warming of surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific area. It will be at its strongest point between December and January.
今年的旱季由于两个不同的天气事件而更长，这就是赤道大西洋北部水域变暖和厄尔尼诺现象。厄尔尼诺现象是指赤道附近太平洋地区的表层海水变暖。它将在12月至1月间达到最高点。
I'm Gregory Stachel.
我是格雷戈里·施塔赫尔。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)