◎羅彥傑

Cabinet ministers in the Maldives held an underwater meeting Saturday to draw attention to the threat global warming poses to the lowest-lying nation on earth.

馬爾地夫的內閣閣員週六舉行了一場水底會議，以吸引各界關注全球暖化對這個地球上海拔最低國家構成的威脅。

President Mohamed Nasheed and his cabinet signed a document during the dive, calling for global cuts in carbon emissions.

納希德總統及其內閣在潛水期間簽署了一份文件，呼籲全球削減碳排放。

The meeting, chaired by President Nasheed, took place around a table about 6 meters underwater, according to the president’s Web site. Bubbles ascended from the face masks the president and the Cabinet wore, and fish swam around them.

這場由納希德總統主持的會議，是在約6公尺深的海底下環繞一張桌子舉行，根據馬國總統府的網站指出。氣泡從總統與內閣閣員穿戴的面罩中升起，還有魚兒四處游動。

All cabinet members bar one - who has a medical condition that rules out diving - had been in training at a military base on one of the country’s many islands.

除了一人因健康狀況不可能潛水之外，所有閣員曾在該國眾多島嶼當中的一處島上軍事基地受訓。

An adviser to the president told the BBC the dive was "a bit of fun" but was intended as a serious message about rising sea levels.

一名總統顧問告訴BBC，潛水「是有一點好玩」，但其宗旨是要對海平面上升發出嚴肅訊息。

Maldives is grappling with the very likely possibility that it will go under water . The Maldives is an archipelago of almost 1,200 coral islands south-southwest of India. Most of it lies just 1.5 meters above sea level.

極可能被海水淹沒的馬爾地夫，正在為此奮鬥。馬爾地夫是一個群島國，位在印度南南西方，由將近1200個珊瑚礁島組成。其國土大部分僅在海平面上1.5公尺。

新聞辭典

lowest-lying ：形容詞，最低的。low-lying則指低地的、地勢較低的。例句：People living in low-lying areas were evacuated because of the floods.（住在低窪地區的民眾因為洪水而疏散。）

bar：前置詞，除∼外。例句：All was over bar the the formal recording of the votes.（一切都已結束，只剩下把表決結果正式記錄在案。）

rule out：片語，排除、使成為不可能。例句：The police have ruled out murder in the case of the girl’s death.（警方在這名女子命案中排除有他殺的可能性。）