如何描述山火肆虐

“肆虐”最常见的就是rage，这个单词还可以表示“狂怒；暴怒；（某情况引起的）愤怒”。好，我们看看中国日报上的描述：

"We give a titanic battle in multiple fire fronts," Greek Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias told a press briefing Wednesday evening, as wildfires raged across the country.

The death toll from the raging wildfires in Greece has risen to two on Monday as devastating blazes continue to wreak havoc across the country.

Wreak havoc是一个固定表达，表示的就是“肆虐；造成严重破坏”，如《经济学人等外刊 | 如何描述“暴雨、热浪与气候变化”？（建议收藏）》中这句：US storms: Hail, tornadoes and flash floods wreak havoc. 美国风暴：冰雹、龙卷风和山洪造成严重破坏。

“肆虐、（大火）穿过”还可以说rip through，tear through，rip和tear都有“撕”的含义，表示火势猛烈，如chinadaily中这句：In Russia, wildfires have ripped through Siberia's forests with growing intensity in recent years, which Russian weather officials and environmentalists have linked to climate change. 在俄罗斯，近几年来西伯利亚森林的山火愈演愈烈，俄罗斯气象官员和环保人士认为这与气候变化有关。

还如卫报中的这句：Holidaymakers and locals were among 500 people who fled Niborio village on Evia island after a large blaze ripped through a forest on Saturday. 周六，一场大火横穿一片森林，包括游客和当地人在内的500人逃离了埃维亚岛的尼博里奥村。

还比如环球时报中的句子：The fires tearing through Turkey since July 28 have destroyed huge swathes of pristine forest and forced the evacuation of panicked tourists from seaside hotels. 7月28日以来席卷土耳其的大火摧毁了大片原始森林，惊慌失措的游客被迫从海滨酒店撤离。

还比如经济学人中这句：EARLIER THIS month wildfires tore through the drought-stricken American West. 本月早些时候，山火席卷了遭受旱灾的美国西部。

这里再说下“重新燃烧起来”，这个可以用leap back to life或burst back to life，如中国日报中的句子：

Wildfires in the north of Athens leapt back to life on Thursday. 雅典北部的山火重新燃烧起来了。

The skies of Athens were again clouded by thick smoke from wildfires on the northern outskirts of the city, which burst back to life on Thursday after dying down earlier this past week. 雅典北郊山火的浓烟再次笼罩着雅典的天空，上周早些时候山火火势减弱，周四又起死回生。

 

“（大火）迅速逼近”用race toward，如卫报中的一篇标题：Deadly wildfire races toward Turkish power plant. 致命山火向土耳其一家发电厂迅速逼近。以及正文报道：

A roaring blaze raced toward a Turkish thermal power plant Tuesday and farmers herded panicked cattle toward the sea as wildfires that have killed eight people raged on for a seventh day. 周二，一场熊熊大火迅速逼近土耳其一家热电厂，农民们将惊慌失措的牛群赶到海边，导致八人死亡的山火已经肆虐了七天。

还比如最新经济学人上这句：The fires crept up the hills, scattered and grew, helped by the wind, and raced down towards the shore. 在风力的作用下，山火蔓延至山丘，四散蔓延，火势越来越猛烈，并向海岸逼近。

Creep可以表示不知不觉产生，如考研英语中这个“regret creeps in你会感到后悔”，但creep在这里表示蔓延，我在19年翻译班也讲过这个，讲的是18年11月CATTI二笔第一篇英译汉真题：Smoke can be seen billowing off the lava as it creeps down roads and through wooded areas toward homes. Fires are visible with terrifying streams of brightness breaking through the surrounding areas of black. 熔岩顺着道路蔓延，穿过林区，向居民区逼近，可以看到熔岩激起滚滚烟雾。

 

山火发生的原因

“引发、助长、导致”等因果句型我们可以用fuel、drive，先来看中国日报中的一篇标题：State of emergency declared on fire-stricken area near Athens as heatwave fuels more wildfires. 热浪引发更多山火，雅典附近的火灾灾区宣布进入紧急状态。

再看看chinadaily上这句：Extreme heat is driving massive fires in Southern Europe. 极端高温正在南欧引发大规模山火。

在英语写作中，要提到山火的多个原因/多重因素，就可以用fanned by 多个原因，多个原因have converged to create，多个原因have combined to create，多个原因make for。如这篇中《外刊精读：澳大利亚山火肆虐，浓烟笼罩天空！| 双语》这几句：

The fires have been fanned by scorching temperatures, extended drought and strong winds. 极端高温、持续干旱和强风共同造成了灾难性的山火。

Strong winds, and a drought gripping south-east Australia, made for a lethal combustion.

Record-breaking temperatures, extended drought and strong winds have converged to create disastrous fire conditions. 创纪录的高温、持续干旱和强风共同造成了灾难性的火灾。

提到原因，还可以用blame，attribute to，比如《如何描述“暴雨、热浪与气候变化”？》中原因的描述：researchers have attributed the extreme weather sweeping the planet to the consequences of climate change. 研究人员说席卷全球的极端天气是气候变化的后果。

还可以说global warming increases both their frequency and intensity，如卫报中这句：Greece is hit by forest fires every summer, but experts have warned that global warming increases both their frequency and intensity. 希腊每年夏天都会遭受森林火灾袭击，但专家警告说，全球变暖增加了森林火灾的频率和强度。

Increase one’s frequency and intensity也可以说increase the risk and severity of sth，如高斋外刊精读翻译班中这句：They also increase the risk and severity of fires—which an increase in the amount of lightning will, in some regions, spark off more frequently.

常见平行文本还有make sth more likely and severe，例如之前《如何描述“暴雨、热浪与气候变化”？》：the warming climate/climate change definitely makes severe/heavy rain more likely. 气候变暖无疑使暴雨发生的可能性增大。

山火严重程度

之前《外刊精读：澳大利亚山火肆虐，浓烟笼罩天空！| 双语》这篇中有描述，用的是discolored，在《经济学人精读：亚马孙雨林大火肆虐！| 考研英语外刊双语》中还用到了blacken、darken、go dark，大家可以打开链接自己看哈。

中国日报在描述时候用了blocked out the sun and turned the sky orange：

Smoke and ash from Evia, a rugged island of forests and coves close to the Greek mainland, blocked out the sun and turned the sky orange. The fire, which began August 3, is the most severe of hundreds in the past week across Greece, gobbling up pristine pine forests as well as homes and businesses and forcing hundreds to quickly evacuate by sea to save their lives. 

埃维亚岛紧靠希腊大陆，是一个森林密布、海湾众多的崎岖岛屿，岛上大火产生的烟尘遮蔽了阳光，使天空变成了橙色。这场始于8月3日的山火是过去一周希腊各地数百起火灾中最严重的一起，大火吞噬了原始的松树林、房屋和企业，迫使数百人迅速乘船撤离逃生。

类似的描述还比如卫报中的报道：The night sky glowed amber and the smoke-filled air was hard to breathe in stifling heat of around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). 夜空发出橘色光芒，烟雾弥漫的空气让人在40摄氏度左右令人窒息的高温下难以呼吸。

还比如经济学人上这句描写：The sky turned grey, then orange. 天空变成了灰色，然后又变成了橘色。