南非科学家致力于保护淡水资源

According to geology.com, Russia's Lake Biakal has as much water as the five great lakes combined.

据地质网报道，俄罗斯比亚卡尔湖的水量相当于五大湖区的水量总和。

Seventy-one percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, but most of that's saltwater, what's fresh only accounts for about three percent and most of that is trapped in the ice sheets of Antarctica.

地球表面的71%被水覆盖，但其中大部分是盐水，淡水只占大约3%，其中大部分受限于南极洲的冰原中。

Still, freshwater plays an incredibly important role in life as we know it.

然而，正如我们所知，淡水在生命中扮演着极其重要的角色。

Though it's considered a renewable resource, it has its limits.

虽然它被认为是一种可再生资源，但它也有其局限性。

Two of the biggest threats to freshwater are pollution and overuse.

淡水面临的两大威胁是污染和过度使用。

In an effort to preserve it by encouraging people to use less of it, a biologist in South Africa has utilized an unexpected tool, his camera.

为了鼓励人们减少使用来保护淡水，南非的一位生物学家使用了一种意想不到的工具——相机。

Rivers really are the arteries of our planet.

河流是地球的动脉。

They transport cool, clean water from the mountains, down across landscapes and give us this critical resource that we rely on so heavily for drinking, for farming, for industry, without these arteries bringing us clean water we'll be in trouble.

河流把清凉干净的水从山上运下来，穿过大地，给我们提供了这种我们严重依赖的重要资源用于饮用，农业和工业，如果没有这些动脉给我们带来干净的水我们就会陷入麻烦。

Jeremy Shelton is a biologist and photographer at the Freshwater Research Center in South Africa.

杰里米·谢尔顿是南非淡水研究中心的生物学家和摄影师。

A world wildlife reports of freshwater fish featured Shelton's images which caught the attention of actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio who shared them on Instagram.

关于淡水鱼的世界野生动物报道中，谢尔顿的照片引起了演员兼活动家莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥的注意，他在Instagram上分享了这些照片。

It's all about inspiring people to become more aware of the natural world around them.

这一切都是为了激励人们更加意识到他们周围的自然世界。

Being able to take these snapshots, bring them above the surface, share them with people that have never had a chance to see this world that I care so much about and once that connection is forged to change the way they behave.

能够拍下这些照片，把它们浮出水面，与那些从未有机会看到的世人分享，分享这我如此关心的世界，一旦这种联系建立起来，就能改变他们的行为方式。

More than half of all fish live in freshwater environments, which are increasingly under pressure from a variety of threats including climate change, pollution and invasive alien species.

超过一半的鱼类生活在淡水环境中，而淡水环境正日益受到气候变化、污染和外来物种入侵等各种威胁的压力。

Behind me here, you can see the Rondegat River, a beautiful mountain stream here in the Cederburg Mountains and this is actually the site of the first freshwater fish restoration project here in South Africa, where alien freshwater fishes were removed to create room for indigenous species that were running out of habitat in the wild.

在我身后，你可以看到隆德加特河，这是塞德堡山脉的一条美丽的山溪，这实际上是南非第一个淡水鱼恢复项目的所在地，在那里，外来淡水鱼被移走，为野生的本土物种创造了栖息地。

A big conservation game for freshwater ecosystems in South Africa.

这是南非淡水生态系统的一场巨大、庞大的保护游戏。

The stability of our planet is intimately linked to having healthy, functioning ecosystems, whether it's the forests that take a lot of their carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere or the freshwater ecosystem that really feed those forests and allow them to grow.

我们星球的稳定与健康运转的生态系统密切相关，无论是从大气中吸收大量二氧化碳的森林，还是真正为森林提供食物并让它们生长的淡水生态系统。

It's all connected and it's really in our best interest to ensure that all of these different kinds of ecosystems stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

这些都是相互联系的，确保所有这些不同的生态系统尽可能长时间地保持健康符合我们的最大利益。

The situation is urgent. In 2018, South Africa released a report on biodiversity which revealed that freshwater fish were the most threatened species group in the country.

情况很紧急。 2018年，南非发布了一份生物多样性报告，显示淡水鱼是该国最受威胁的物种群体。

Shelton is determined to do all he can to save these precious resources.

谢尔顿决心尽他所能拯救这些珍贵的资源。

I'm hoping that through connecting with this previously unseen world that people will treat them a little bit more gently.

我希望通过与这个前所未见的世界建立联系，人们会对他们更温柔一点。

That people will be a little bit more thoughtful about the way we live our lives and about the way we interact with these natural ecosystems.

人们会更加关注我们的生活方式以及我们与这些自然生态系统的互动方式。

Whether it's taking a shorter shower or accessing rainwater, or brushing our teeth for a minute less.

无论是缩短淋浴时间，接收雨水，还是少刷牙一分钟。

Every little bit of water saving can help.

每节约一点水都能有所帮助。

The conservation needs for freshwater life are extremely high and it's really reaching a tipping point now where it's take action or we stand to lose a lot of these species and the ecosystems in which they evolve.

淡水生物的保护需求非常高，现在真的到了一个临界点，需要采取行动，否则我们将失去大量这些物种以及它们赖以进化的生态系统。