【纽约时报 20150409】科学家质疑中国申办冬奥会对环境的影响
【中文标题】科学家质疑中国申办冬奥会对环境的影响
【原文标题】Scientists Question Environmental Impact of China’s Winter Olympics Bid
【登载媒体】纽约时报
【原文作者】IAN JOHNSON
【原文链接】http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/world/asia/water-intensive-beijing-olympic-bid-alarms-environmentalists.html?ref=topics&_r=0
一年中有那么几天，雨滴稀稀疏疏地落在北京北部干旱的山区上，汇集成涓涓细流，注入像云州水库那样的储水池。水库岸边波光粼粼的景象对于当地农民来说就像是海市蜃楼——可望而不可得。68岁的农民程林说：“我们不能用，这里的水是给别人用的，不是给我们的。”像这里的其它农民一样，他每年种植一季的玉米，盼望春雨能如期而至。
这里的水专门用来供应北京南部地区，到了冬天，它的用途是造雪。
中国一直在建设一个环北京旅游带，主旨是打造水上运动，比如滑雪。它目前正在建造一个雪道，以争取获得2022年冬季奥运会的主办权。国际奥委会在上周查看了当地的设施情况，他们将在7月份做出最后决定。如果北京获胜，它将成为第一个举办过夏季奥运会和冬季奥运会的城市，他唯一的对手是哈萨克斯坦的阿拉木图。
中国张家口附近的一个滑雪场，如果中国赢得2022年冬季奥运会举办权，它将是举办一些活动的场地。人造雪和真实的降雪还是有差距。
北京认为奥运会所带来的环境影响将会是“生态友好的”和“可持续的”。在他们提交给国际奥委会是三卷报告中，主办者说他们会使用可再生的能源和可持续的建筑材料。因修建雪道而砍伐的森林将在其它地方重新种植，这是国际奥委会的要求。报告中说：“雪场附近有丰富的水源，雪融化之后可以被循环利用。奥运会期间的造雪工程不会对当地生态系统产生负面影响。”
“丰富”这个词通常不会被用来形容北京的水资源。尽管这个城市的某些地区每年有23英寸的降水量，但是建造雪道的地区，也就是举办奥运会的山区，年降水量大约在15到16英寸之间，可以说是半干旱地区。三分之二的降水出现在夏季。从12月到1月，像水库所在的崇礼地区，降水量大约在十分之一英寸左右。也就是说，整个冬天几乎没有降水。
独立水资源专家张俊峰曾经发表过大量有关北京水资源的文章，他说：“北京根本就没有雪。人们在电视上看到那些体育节目，觉得很有趣，但这不是可持续的行为。”
北京曾经有丰富的水资源，但随着当地人口在过去25年里翻了一番，达到2200万人，水早已消耗殆尽。一项投资620亿美元的计划要把南方的水调度到北方，计划刚刚开始，但这只能让局面稍微缓解一些。
胡勘平是一位退休的水文学者，他专门为中国非政府组织“自然之友”编写文章。他说：“这里当然不适合建造滑雪旅游设施。”在2011年的一份报告中，他写到北京的11个滑雪场每年平均耗费十亿加仑的水，相当于4.2万人的日常用水量。
北京已经提议把崇礼作为雪板、自由式滑雪和越野赛的主办地。崇礼已经有若干条雪道，但至少还有一条奥运会雪道和雪橇比赛场地正在修建过程中。一个曾经关闭的雪场又重新开放，如果北京获得主办权，还有另一个雪场要扩张。延庆松山国家森林公园是离北京最近的可持续发展山区，那里是高山滑雪的场地，需要更长的雪道和更大的落差。但延庆现在一条雪道也没有。
在多次申请下，北京和崇礼官方都没有回应采访的要求。
九站村农民范登军说，如果有足够的水源进行灌溉，他可以把作物产量翻倍。而这些水被用来造雪了。
研究滑雪产业的专家说，这种在类似于北京这样水资源紧张的地区扩张滑雪产业的行为，变得越来越常见。相对温暖、干旱的国家，比如土耳其、印度和巴基斯坦，都兴建了这样的度假胜地。上届冬奥会主办城市俄罗斯的索契，年平均降水量只有21英寸，主办者不得不存储了将近60万立方码的雪来覆盖比赛场地。
法国萨瓦大学教授卡门•德扬专门研究水文和高山运动，她说这种开发策略在生态学上没有延续性。“这种开发就像是火星人的计划，完全是人工的。”
2022年冬奥会的另一个候选城市阿拉木图也好不到哪里去，它的年平均降水量只有22英寸，造雪机的水源来自大坝和水塔。阿尔卑斯山脉的旅游胜地年平均降水量超过40英寸，一些最著名的地区超过60英寸。但即使在这样的地方，也因为气候的变化而需要人工造雪。
环境保护人士所担心的另外一个问题是，北京和阿拉木图都计划在他们的国家公园内修建奥运会雪道。北京打算把延庆国家公园内的小海坨山改造成高山速降比赛场地，这座山峰是自然保护区的一部分，汽车禁止通行。官方的说法是，如果北京赢得主办权，改造会马上开始。研究显示，雪道对植物生命的侵蚀和破坏程度超过滥砍滥伐，它们会对表层土壤和土壤下的植物造成永久性的伤害。人造雪的问题更加严重，因为它会在地面形成冰层，导致地下霉菌滋生。
我在2月份第一次去海坨山参观，那里一点雪也没有。当地人说人造雪的水源来自附近的官厅水库。当地一位农民曾连说，他希望北京可以赢得主办权，“领导来过很多次了，如果北京获胜，我们就可以发展。”奥运会结束之后，滑雪度假胜地可以给海坨村带来很多收入。这里大部分居民靠种植玉米、放牧和向登山者销售补给品为生。
云州水库是汇集高山流往北京北部地区河流的蓄水池，当地居民不可以使用这些水源。
计划的投资金额惊人。政府将在小海坨地区投资16.3亿美元，包括一个占地35英亩的奥运村和有940个房间的酒店。崇礼县的投资稍微小一点——9500万美元，因为当地已经有了一些基础设施。比如马来西亚人的一个度假胜地密园云顶，那里可以举办一些北欧运动项目。
在附近的雪道上，滑雪爱好者似乎对于主办奥运会的预期感到兴奋。张家口居民李云开车带家人来这里玩，他说：“这将会让设施变得更加完善，同时提升旅游业。冰雪公园会变得更好，吸引国内外游客。”
崇礼雪场全部使用人造雪。在2月份的时候，旁边一条雪道上的雪已经消失，附近山坡上裸露着褐色的表层土壤，只有背阴处点缀着小块未融化的雪。
无论是否使用人造雪，这个新产业的确给当地提供了收入更高的工作机会。这里的服务人员每月可以挣500美元，与从前挣扎在最低生活线的务农收入形成鲜明对比。在十年前滑雪度假胜地开业之前，崇礼县被官方划归为贫困县。这种经济模式的可持续性颇受争议。崇礼县的一个滑雪场多乐美地在两年前关张，当地官员拒绝对此接受采访，但当地居民说，水价上升让造雪过程成本过高。这个雪场刚刚重新开业，期望北京可以获得奥运会主办权。
对于那些无法在滑雪旅游产业中分一杯羹的人来说，发展的前景并不乐观。居住在云州水库附近的农民程先生说，环境变化和缺少雨水让务农越来越难。打井取水越来越困难，有研究显示北京的地下水位每年下降两英尺。程先生说：“事情总是这样，水都要给城里人用。”
但是，就像我在这个地区遇到的所有人一样，他也希望北京可以赢得主办权。“从前我只在电视上看过滑雪，但是如果我们获胜，我要坐汽车去崇礼亲眼看一看雪。”
原文：
JIUZHANBAO, China — A few times a year, rains sprinkle the dry mountains north of Beijing, feeding streams that trickle down to catchments like the Yunzhou Reservoir. From its shores, the water shimmers and sparkles, a mirage that local farmers can see but not touch.
“We can’t use it,” said Cheng Lin, a 68-year-old farmer who, like others here, plants corn once a year and hopes for spring rain. “It’s for others, not us.”
Instead, the water is earmarked for the greater Beijing area to the south, and in the winter, increasingly, for making snow.
China, which has been constructing a tourism belt around Beijing centered on water-intensive sports like skiing, is now building ski slopes in a bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee inspected the region’s facilities last week, and it is expected to make a final decision in July. If Beijing wins, it will be the first city to host the Winter and the Summer Games, which it held in 2008. Its only competitor is Almaty, Kazakhstan.
A ski resort near Zhangjiakou, China, that will be used as a venue for some events if China holds the 2022 Winter Olympics. Artificial snow makes up for a shortfall of the real thing.
According to Beijing’s bid, the environmental impact of the Games would be “ecofriendly” and “sustainable.” In their three-volume filing with the I.O.C., organizers say they will use renewable energy and sustainable building materials. Forest cover lost to ski slopes or other facilities would be offset by new tree plantings elsewhere, in compliance with I.O.C. requirements.
“As there are abundant water resources near the ski resorts, and the melted snow will be recycled,” the bid says, “snow-making during the Games will not have any negative impact on the local ecosystem.”
“Abundant” is not a word often used to describe Beijing’s water supply. Although some parts of the city receive up to 23 inches of rain a year, the mountainous area where the ski resorts are being built and the Games would be held receives 15 to 16 inches, making it semiarid.
Two-thirds of that precipitation falls in the summer. In December and January, areas like Chongli, where the reservoir is, receive about a tenth of an inch of precipitation, meaning they are usually bare throughout the winter.
“It just doesn’t snow in Beijing,” said Zhang Junfeng, an independent water expert who has written and published widely on Beijing’s water troubles. “People get ideas by watching television and sports and think it’s a great pastime, but it’s not sustainable.”
Beijing used to be rich in water resources, but it dried up as its population doubled over the past 25 years to an estimated 22 million. A $62 billion project to divert water to the north from the water-rich south has begun, but it is expected only to stabilize the situation.
“Of course they shouldn’t have ski resorts,” said Hu Kanping, a retired hydrologist who writes reports for the Chinese nongovernmental organization Friends of Nature. In a 2011 report, he wrote that the 11 ski resorts then open in Beijing used an average of about a billion gallons of water a year, or enough for 42,000 people.
Beijing has proposed the Chongli area for events like snowboarding, freestyle skiing and cross-country skiing. Chongli already has several ski slopes, but at least one other Olympic ski run and a sledding run are under construction. One of the larger ski resorts that had closed has reopened, and another is set to expand if Beijing wins the Games.
Yanqing Songshan National Forest Park, which has the only substantial mountain near Beijing, was chosen for Alpine skiing, which requires longer runs and steeper descents. Yanqing has no existing ski slopes.
Beijing and Chongli officials did not respond to repeated requests for interviews.
Fan Dengjun, a farmer in Jiuzhan, said he could double his harvest if he had more water, which China has been using to make artificial snow. Credit
Experts who follow the ski industry say that its expansion into water-stressed environments like Beijing is increasingly the norm. Relatively dry or warm countries like Turkey, India and Pakistan all have new resorts. The site of the last Winter Olympics, the Russian resort town of Sochi, gets only 21 inches of precipitation a year, which forced organizers to stockpile nearly 600,000 cubic yards of snow to ensure adequate cover.
Carmen de Jong, a professor at the University Savoie Mont Blanc in France who studies water and Alpine sports, said such developments were ecologically unsustainable.
“This kind of development is a Martian-like plan,” she said. “It’s completely artificial.”
The alternative to Beijing for 2022, Almaty, is not much better. It receives just 22 inches of precipitation a year, and it relies on dams and water towers to feed its snow-making machines.
Resorts in the Alps, by contrast, regularly receive more than 40 inches of precipitation a year. Some of the most famous areas get nearly 60 inches. But even these regions are now relying on artificial snow because of climate change.
Another concern for conservationists is that both Beijing and Almaty plan to build Olympic ski resorts in their national parks. Beijing’s organizers are planning to use Xiaohaituo Mountain in Yanqing National Park for the Alpine events. The mountain is part of a protected nature reserve, and automobile traffic is banned. Officials have said construction will begin there only if Beijing wins the bid.
Studies show that ski runs increase erosion and destroy plant life beyond simply the growth that is cut down; they can also cause permanent damage to topsoil and plants beneath the surface. Artificial snow worsens this problem because it often creates an ice sheet over the ground, leading to the growth of mold underneath.
During a visit in February, the Haituoshan mountain range had no snow at all. Locals said that water for artificial snow would come from the nearby Guanting Reservoir.
Zeng Lian, a local farmer, said he hoped Beijing would win the bid. “The leaders have been here several times, and if Beijing wins, we can develop,” he said.
A ski resort would provide revenue for his village, Haituo, long after the Games ended, he said. Most residents live off corn farming, herding and selling supplies to hikers.
Yunzhou Reservoir is a catchment area for water that flows from mountain areas to the north of Beijing. Local farmers are not allowed to use the water.
The planned investment is huge. For the Xiaohaituo area, the government would invest $163 million, including for a 35-acre Olympic Village and 940 hotel rooms.
In nearby Chongli, the investment is less — $95 million — because some facilities already exist, such as the Genting Grand Secret Garden, a Malaysian-owned resort that would host some of the Nordic events.
On the nearby slopes, skiers seemed excited about the prospect of hosting the Games.
“This will complete the other facilities and boost tourism,” said Li Yun, a resident of Zhangjiakou who drove up for the day with his family. “The snow parks will become better and attract tourists from in and outside China.”
All of the snow parks in Chongli use artificial snow. During a visit in February, the ground next to the ski runs was dry and the nearby hills were brown, except for an occasional dusting of snow in shaded areas.
Artificial or not, the new industries have brought relatively good-paying jobs to the area. Service personnel can earn about $500 a month, compared with the subsistence-level farming that existed before. Until the resorts began opening over the past decade, Chongli was officially designated an impoverished county.
The viability of this economy is open to debate. One of Chongli’s ski resorts, Duolemeidi, closed two years ago. Resort officials rejected requests for interviews, but locals said rising water prices had made snow-making too expensive. The resort reopened recently in the hopes that Beijing wins the Games.
For those without jobs in the ski tourism industry, the prospects are daunting. Mr. Cheng, the farmer near the Yunzhou Reservoir, said agriculture was increasingly difficult because climate change had reduced rainfall.
Pumping water out of the ground is also becoming harder, he said. Studies show that Beijing’s water table has been sinking up to two feet a year.
“This is the way it has always been,” Mr. Cheng said. “The water goes to the city people.”
And yet, like almost everyone interviewed in this area, he thought it would be great if Beijing won the bid.
“Right now, I’ve only seen skiing on television,” he said. “But if we win, I’ll take a bus down to Chongli and see the snow myself.”
中国人喜欢大场面 “北京根本就没有雪？”这个是专家说的。。。！ 一直奇怪为什么东北不提出申办冬奥会 原来某个自然现象存不存在，不是以客观事实为准。而是以独立专家说了算，说有就有，说无就无！呵呵
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