跟隨無人機 深入中國沙漠化重災區(下)

Jeremy White, a graphics editor at The Times, analyzed satellite data to determine three communities where the desert seemed to be encroaching.

時報的圖片編輯傑里米•懷特(Jeremy White)分析了衛星數據，以確定三個似乎正在被騰格裏沙漠侵蝕的社區。

Our challenge was to find a story there.

我們的挑戰是在那裏找到一個故事。

Was desertification impacting people in these locations? If so, how?

沙漠化是否正在影響這些地方的人？如果是，又是怎麼影響的？

What Edward, the writer on the piece, and I found was eye-opening: stories of people having to change their livelihoods, of farmers trying to supplement lost incomes by catering more to tourists, of families resettling and sending their children to cities in hopes that they would succeed in a new industry.

撰寫文章的黃安偉和我發現的情況令人目瞪口呆：從人們不得不改變生計，到農民試圖通過迎合遊客來衝抵收入的減少，再到舉家搬遷並送孩子進城，希望他們能在新的行業裏成功，這些都是我們看到的故事。

One of the ways to capture the extent of the change — and the emotional heft of these stories — was to rise above the desert with a drone.

變化的幅度之大，是這些故事令人心情沉重的地方，要捕捉到這一點，其中一個辦法就是利用無人機俯瞰這片沙漠。

Our replacement car eventually arrives,

我們換的車終於來了。

and a new death metal song crackles out of the speakers.

喇叭裏傳出的是另一首死亡金屬歌曲。

Unfortunately, we’ve missed the light for the evening; we’ll have to try again at sunrise — which means sleeping among the dunes.

遺憾的是，我們錯過了傍晚的光線，將不得不在日出時再試，這意味着我們要在沙丘過夜。

That light is stunning the next morning as we bounce back across the sand, and I finally have time to film what I need for the story.

第二天早上，當我們在沙漠中重新振作起來時，光線非常好。

我終於有時間拍攝這個故事需要的素材了。

Then, by what seems like a miracle, we notice a 4G cellular signal,

然後，像是奇蹟似的，我們注意到了一個4G手機信號。

so I tether our drone to Facebook Live and share the flying experience with our readers (a task made ever more difficult by the fact that Facebook is blocked in China).

於是，我把無人機和Facebook Live綁定，和我們的讀者分享這次飛行經歷（Facebook在中國遭到屏蔽這個事實，讓這件事變得更加困難。

Up next? We’re off to another part of China for the next story in the series — and for many more challenging modes of transportation.

接下來呢？我們出發前往中國另一個地方，尋找這個系列的下一個故事，並體驗很多更具挑戰性的交通方式。