【法語學習】絕佳的法語口語聽力素材 ！！ P6 - 我們需要為海平面上升做些什麼

Hello everyone welcome back—I'm so happy to see you all for another episode It's the fifty-ninth I think—hard to say And here I find Violaine in front of me as ready as ever just like every fifteen days really Hi everyone hi Nathan What's new Well you know nothing special everything's going pretty well and I don't want to talk about the weather again But it's the arrival of spring and that well it lifts my spirits as they say Yeah that’s nice We’re slowly getting closer to spring Well to be perfectly honest I could be doing better I just returned from a funeral that took place early this week in Toulouse in southwestern France and as the saying goes in order to accept the news move forward and begin to grieve They say that's just how life is really and it's simply part of the natural order Since obviously Violaine the person was of a certain age so she was my grandmother's sister my great-aunt There we'll say it's just life as I told you That's life but it's true that in our culture a funeral is still something profoundly heavy Perhaps unlike other cultures to which our listeners may belong at times I know that in certain countries it can sometimes be more joyful Well maybe we could do an episode on it someday why not about how things work here in France Yeah we should definitely talk about that How about another time Yeah sure another day even though I'm not convinced today's theme is exactly cheerful or likely to lift your spirits I'm sorry but I think it's very interesting—fascinating and unsettling at the same time—so let's discuss it Why was this topic chosen Simply because exactly 15 years ago within a few days France was hit by a storm What is the worst natural disaster France has experienced in the 21st century It was truly powerful—a storm that actually struck the western part of the country near Rochelle Exactly Nathan the place where you were born is currently hit by a storm causing significant damage In short we'll go over the details shortly and come back to them But there it is—this was a real shock and in my view a genuine wake-up call for the nation The famous storm Xyntia as it's known is this In fact there was a before and after Xyntia—meaning that since 2010 for the past 15 years many things have happened a lot of things and we'll see how France is managing—or attempting to manage—today the notorious rise in sea levels which I'm sure many people listening to us unfortunately know all too well in their own countries And moreover in fact Violaine is more or less directly affected by all of this Quickly I think this episode will be interesting for exploring more specific vocabulary in French sometimes even a bit scientific I'd say And as for grammar as well I think it's worth sticking with us I imagine we're inevitably going to have to practice past tenses—it's mandatory at is the imperfect the past perfect the pluperfect as well as the future—we'll get to that Yeah so a bit of everything the subjunctive too definitely In any case that's likely if we share our views on what should be done in the future Here are some ideas tips and desires—and knowing us we might just make them happen There you go no matter what you do you can see the subjunctive has already fallen by the third minute It's surprisingly fast even within just three minutes of this episode Just before Violaine are you still agreeable to asking our students a quick question With pleasure I've noted one down if it's the one you mentioned earlier just before the recording That's it yes that's the one In fact there are two questions even That's true that's true Well simply put Nathan and I would like to know two things Have you ever experienced a natural disaster of this kind in your country So storm flood earthquake seismic event tsunami I might be forgetting a few And the second question is this: How does your government your country manage such risks for the future Great question and I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts in the comments I think Violaine we've covered everything and haven't missed a thing for the presentation So let's go ahead We can start with the facts That infamous night from February 27 to 28 2010 was exactly 15 years ago And personally I remember it as if it happened yesterday That was certainly the case— it's still incredibly vid in my memory I don't know—do you have the same memory as I do Honestly no on my side I'm younger than you How old was I I was 16 at the time That's right I was still in high school near Lyon outside the city And it's true that weren't really affected by this storm Not at all I believe even So it's true we've always viewed this from a somewhat distant perspective You're right you're right In fact you were on the opposite side of the storm's path And I was 19 years old And that's really the point in fact The key was that I was right there right in the area practically in the middle of it You know perfectly well right in the heart of the storm even though I had moved to Bordeaux at that time I'd been following those events fairly calmly since I was a bit farther south At the time it's true that I'd mainly been told about all these events I also remember my mother and my grandmother who had spoken to me so much about it back then And from those details you see from all these little details Because they in fact they lived there right on the spot And they had experienced everything seen everything and heard everything You could say it made a lot of noise Yes but it's true they were in the spotlight because it was a storm that struck mainly in France in the Rochelle region the Charente-Maritime department To give you a sense of location we're in western France near the Atlantic Ocean And further north the coastline was hit hard as well So that's really the area around your place Can you tell us what happened that night from February 27 to 28 2010 A violent storm though I wouldn't say extremely so because I'm trying to compare it with what also exists in the world But it was obviously a violent storm with strong winds blowing along the entire coast which swept across the coast near Rochelle precisely on a very well-known and touristy little island in France called Île de Ré I think I've mentioned this before— it's just across from Rochelle Listen there were winds reaching 160 kilometers per hour So it's not crazy it's huge—160—but it's not a record I don't think But in reality what actually happened back then 15 years ago The issue was that there was a strong tide at the same time with a high tidal coefficient So in fact all of this combined—namely the wind and the tide— This naturally caused sea levels to rise by about 1.5 meters something you can surely appreciate That's enormous—we go from zero level to 1.5 meters and naturally the water eventually overflowed And I remember all those images of the port of La Rochelle that I showed you not so long ago but here it is With all the streets around the harbor completely flooded There was no longer any distinction between the streets and the rest Everything had overflowed water was everywhere Yes yes everything was flooded And I saw a report while preparing the episode and it clearly showed that So you were talking about where you were born and raised a place that was severely affected by all of this But it actually occurred all along the Atlantic coast As I mentioned earlier when we move further northwest I saw it had reached as far as Brittany where people had to be evacuated after being trapped in their homes Even though the consequences appeared less severe I believe And I remember that I went back to see my family the following weekend Two to three days after the storm after Xintia so what do we call it And so from Bordeaux to La Rochelle by train I had taken the train and upon arriving just a few kilometers short of La Rochelle I'd say about five or ten kilometers each time you see in that section the train runs alongside the coast as they say We're about 200 meters from the sea maybe—I'm not even sure perhaps only 100 meters at most We're very very close to the ocean We have to pass through the villages located right by the water every time And I remember a particular village called Châtelayon Châtelayon-Plage is a fairly well-known seaside resort one might say among the French That weekend this village this small commune His feet were literally in the water you know as they say—feet truly in the water There was still a foot of water easily visible in the gardens streets and fields—the fields were flooded It was impressive because it was unique truly rare in this area No but especially the water temperature must have been extremely cold since it was February so extremely cold at that time winter being the season How many dead It wasn't said it wasn't specified That's true In France we counted 47 but there were many disaster victims as they say—people who lost everything with their house flooded all the furniture and equipment are ruined and therefore destroyed I saw a report showing roads in very poor condition with significant damage In some places the sidewalks were completely shattered Naturally as often happens due to the wind the first thing to go was They're the roofs Of course the roofs flying off and it deeply affected many people on this point And all the trees that fall The trees And you know on the island of Ré once again In this region where I was born and raised there are many Australian-style parks I'm talking about the island of Ré but there's also the island of Oléron for example And so Australian oyster farms—within just two seconds—these are the places where oysters are grown This spot is highly renowned in France for its oysters They are truly delicious You don't like oysters do you Violaine I absolutely hate them I've only started liking them recently but when I was young I was born there but I never ate it I also think many of the people listening to us especially those from Europe are familiar with the oysters from Oléron They are highly renowned and widely recognized Naturally these oysters are partly cultivated in the sea a little on land but also a great deal in the sea of course There a large portion of all these parks as they're called has been destroyed A large part of it of course was due to that storm On that point regarding the economy it was dramatic So overall a lot of damage And that's something that hadn't happened in France for a long time It's true that our listeners might still think 47 deaths certainly is far too many and we'd prefer to have none at all But you see it's not that huge either for a disaster contrast to other events that occur around the world almost every day But we must still understand that it left a mark on the French and that it was a real trauma for people I think we can use that word In fact at that moment I think we truly realized the danger of living along the coast and the danger that could come from the ocean quite simply Yes before Cynthia before this storm there was little awareness no awareness at all We weren't actually aware of the risks of flooding So what was it basically You could buy your house on an island just a few meters from the sea—if you felt like it and if you had the means too of course because it can be expensive But then again if it made us happy if we wanted to live in a certain place Whether it was in a flood-prone area as they say or not we didn' t really question it much in practice—it wasn't a deciding factor It didn't really matter much Sometimes it didn't matter at all So I'm obviously talking about a general trend I know personally in La Rochelle for instance people who were already aware of her risks even before Cynthia spoke about them and in fact for a very long time My grandmother had been talking about it for a very long time in this area Yes but it's true that the general trend for most people It was still not a real debate And at the political decision-making level as well it was not a real debate Because back then we didn't realize the danger as I said or at least were far less aware of it But you know it's often like that—people think things like this only happen somewhere else that they only happen to others Absolutely But then again it's true there was a turning point after that infamous night in February And I believe there was a genuine shift in people's minds because it left a deep impression it shocked them as I mentioned And even politically in France that's extremely interesting But in terms of laws and urban planning A lot of things have changed Yes and they've therefore been taken into account That's true there's no denying it France I think has put things in place—put them in place It's true you can link them or not it's not mandatory France has taken steps And that's what we'll be looking at now I believe That's what makes it interesting And I think of something an image comes to mind because I know it' s still happening today involving people especially from my region But imagine Violaine you're living in a house by the sea See My dream There your dream too only more so You bought it you built it yourself or you had it built obviously And then suddenly you're told it's over that she' s going to be destroyed and you must leave at once Like that from one day to the next I want to ask you a question How would you feel Not surprisingly it would depress me And I'd inevitably be terribly sad I can 't deny it And it's truly heartbreaking I never experienced it myself but I saw a woman talking about it on TV and she was crying completely overcome with tears Even if it's necessary and could prevent further tragedies do you realize in just one tiny village Fewer than 2 000 residents I believe They demolished 600 houses So they simply destroyed them Raze meaning to destroy Demolish as well Six hundred homes were destroyed in a single village So basically one third of the people have left At the same time it was the village most severely affected by the storm There had been many deaths Not everyone was eager to stay after that tragedy but plenty remained simply because they had no choice They were told we're buying your house We'll give you its market value But you must leave And incidentally that has a name It's called expropriation A bit hard to say Expropriation When you're forced to leave for one reason or another You get evicted But then again it's true that when you've lived there since childhood You were born there it's tough It's tough but you're being displaced because the area is flood-prone And you know now Violaine Construction has been impossible ever since that notorious storm the one that devastated certain areas of France They created zones with small colored patches I know The first ones I can't remember what color they were—green or yellow But I know there are red zones black zones where building is absolutely prohibited So if you want to build your own house you'll have to go elsewhere You must go elsewhere And you know I've seen the maps of those areas In France about 10% of housing units are located in flood-prone areas so construction can no longer continue But 10% of these homes are still occupied even though they were built so long ago That seems enormous to me Now we really need to be careful pay close attention to all of this And by the way Violaine maybe we could share that little story I don't know what you think about it We were both in the car last weekend down in southern France near Montpellier Yes a bit our new region We were listening to the radio We were tuning into the news It was France Info We often play France Info We tune into that radio station while driving And for the commemoration and the 15th anniversary of this storm the mayor of that well-known commune was there You were just talking a moment ago about who was invited do you remember who was interviewed— the mayor of that famous village I've somewhat forgotten his name the one most affected by the storm Do you remember Yes it's La Faute-sur-Mer And to give you a reference point it's not far from Nantes Yes La Faute-sur-Mer There it is that 's it A name now well known though it's so small and was obviously unknown more than 15 years ago You see that mayor I don't know if you remember but he truly understood that destroying houses was necessary obviously to prevent it from happening again That makes sense But he also highlighted that particular mayor Another point I find quite interesting is the famous right of property He said that having a place to live is also a human right It's a fundamental right You know the right to housing The right to housing And we also needed to be careful with that It is a human right that's true But that's a fascinating perspective Also we can understand that for him it's devastating to see a third of his population leave They're going somewhere else to live Seeing a tiny village empty out I find it sad But do we really have a choice Can we do it differently Because you know the urban planning regulations have changed We saw that when preparing this topic And we've known this for a few years now You know that from now on if you live in certain parts of France you'll need to have a room or space at home reserved for where you can take shelter where you can seek refuge in case of a flood Yeah like a shelter Who will protect you Totally And sometimes you even need to have an upper floor It makes sense—you need to be elevated with one floor And in France you have many houses in those areas particularly that are on the ground level Should we build an additional floor Are there any financial assistance options available That's the main issue That's true Who's going to pay for it Who's going to cover the cost of this But in any case it's true that it remains a sensible perhaps necessary measure that could also prevent tragedies That's just in fact what I think It's hard to imagine and even harder to put into practice You'd need to build an additional floor if you want to stay in your home That's essentially it So you don't have a choice And it's still not easy having to keep raising your own house every time That's it Where are we stopping And among the measures that have been adopted over the past 15 years there is something else You can also notice along the coastline in France as you stroll along the shore the presence of sea walls That's what dikes are like There are quite a few of them actually heading toward La Rochelle I went there not long ago There are more and more of them So we call them what they are dikes What are they Let me explain to you It's a kind of natural barrier between land and sea Basically it's like a small wall we build to protect against the ocean everything found along the coast such as houses and so on and we want to protect them from strong tides waves and the like Once again Yes and it's quite high obviously the dikes Yes I think that's between 4 and 5 meters each time That's right And just in the department of Charente-Maritime the department of La Rochelle We built dikes along nearly the entire coastline about 45 to 50 kilometers long and finally managed to protect the area villages that were in an extremely vulnerable situation facing danger And I know that in a commune I'm very familiar with just outside La Rochelle they’ve just arrived here it was about a month or two ago they’ve just finished building ot a single seawall but two So it's like a double seawall to slightly reinforce the coastline to strengthen this protection The issue you see Violène is that if the water overflows the first dike it will obviously be stopped Stopped by the second Yes so this clearly shows the danger facing La Rochelle and the entire area Well at least in this way You're safe for now because even so it's just a temporary reprieve as they say—it's only temporary It's a short-term protection In the medium term in my opinion And I'll tell you why shortly but I still want to say something to you and that is that at the very least This storm Xynthia enabled a complete overhaul of France's public warning system Yes the system for alerting the population—indeed It's a true revolution you can't hide that it's undeniable Imagine just think back to that time In 2010 the municipalities had been warned of the storm's arrival only a few hours beforehand upon receiving something at doesn't exist much anymore today a fax Yeah they got that at the town hall that's all Whereas in 2010 That seems pretty crazy to me but we already had things like phones and the internet and so on We weren't in the Stone Age weren't in the 19th century and in 2010 well I don't think so No no you're right it's mind-blowing because a fax is well just a piece of paper So to sum up it's obviously not simple—just imagine for the information to reach the ears of the residents afterward— It takes a considerable amount of time Since then the positive aspect is that we've established something far more serious and substantial It's a genuine protocol designed to alert people directly And I assume that to send out alerts everything is done through networks right Yeah through networks— obviously but not only that Texts SMS messages via phone too We can call you So it's a more complete direct and immediate system You receive the alert within one second and are instantly notified Actually all this makes me think— I don't know about you but it reminds me of the recent floods in Spain You know the floods that happened very recently at took place that occurred in the Valencia region Valencian in French some months ago by the end of 2024 exactly you see this device existed but the issue was e issue was that he hadn't been reactive enough and I can speak about it we can discuss it because were there and I remember it clearly I had received alerts on my phone in Spain far too late Yes the system existed but it took a long time to activate And in fact we only received all those messages and alerts on the phone after the disaster had already arrived Do you remember See she had already passed by Anyway that's not the point what happened in Spain but returning to what exists in France I think that's great provided of course that it works on time but it's true that obviously it's incredibly useful and that it's the bare minimum in fact this kind of setup in the short term again Yeah no of course it's the minimum because beyond that we can't hide it we've been saying it all along but still this entire coastline is extremely fragile She is in danger in the future no matter what happens no matter what we do unfortunately we cannot turn back time And you're talking about this coast not just this Atlantic coast it's true we've been talking about it a lot for about twenty minutes now but we can generalize—really try to summarize everything related to sea level and that might resonate more with people who are listening to us but in France in fact it's the same issue the same concern along the Côte d'Azur the Mediterranean for example but we can also talk about the northern part of France the English Channel and so on Yeah exactly because wherever there is water there will be a rise in sea levels the water will continue to rise the sea level as been rising steadily obviously due to climate change and I saw a fairly concrete figure so that we fully grasp the implications perhaps by the year 2100 we could see sea levels significantly higher and in fact They're talking about an additional 50 to 80 centimeters and of course these are serious scientists saying so Who's saying it It's the IPCC that brings together many countries Yeah the IPCC of course is very serious I even think it depends on the United Nations so inevitably more than 80 centimeters by 2100 with of course logically it's logical it goes without saying that storms like Xintia will become increasingly frequent and certainly this type of event will recur In the future will building seawalls or elevating floors in homes be enough We can certainly ask ourselves that question Not sure Yeah probably not Well you know I've actually seen maps showing what all this is going to look like— you know what it's going to resemble e islands next to Rochelle so I'm thinking of Île de Ré Île d'Oléron kind of like in 2100 I've seen the maps Actually well the forecasts there's a large portion that will be underwater When you look at the map when you look closely you see water everywhere and there are entire neighborhoods that actually exist today—perhaps even some neighborhoods— where my loved ones live you see and who will have vanished in seventy years perhaps even sooner That’s it So it's quite terrible Yeah because actually let's say reinforcing infrastructure is good and essential but in reality facing nature which is far stronger that won 't be enough and we know it—often we say nature is reclaiming its rights over us So in my opinion we must truly and completelyrethink the territory and I recently came across an interesting idea from a mayor from a small village not far from Nantes once again called Wait let me find it because I didn't know it before Yes Saint-Vincent-sur-Jarre It must be really tiny I don't know it And he clearly says that actually Stop trying to protect homes at all costs Why Because for him it actually means paving over everything Yeah concrete well it's an interesting verb I use quite a bit It's a verb you can also use to describe the process of solidifying or making something firm and unyielding for the coast near Valencia Of course In Spain paving well it's simply when you lay concrete that's all You build with a lot a lot of concrete So we build things that are solid but the problem is it's not necessarily It was very trendy a few years ago but it's true that if you pave everywhere it might be effective though not necessarily sustainable in the long term In the short term well yeah now it seems absolutely crazy to us especially in Spain And instead of paving it over so e mayor wants to let nature reclaim its place as I said So in short we halt all construction and create atural spaces instead of those areas quite a few of them are at higher risk and located near water Okay so it's really by the water's edge obviously It's true that paving we usually say it when we're on the coast you know It's a problem sometimes to pour concrete everywhere along the water's edge Unfortunately we say the same thing about cities since cities are being paved over and there' s less and less nature left in them but that's another topic But basically for him There would just be wildlife and vegetation and no more human settlements So just animals and plants Yeah atural spaces as you said natural parks in every form ultimately And that truly would be a genuine a genuine transformation of the territory Relocating moving—it's hard But if we truly have no choice in the end It might be a good idea On the other hand for that I think it takes political courage you know from elected officials from mayors locally as well as nationally Naturally one must be courageous And when you see the current instability in France with governments at keep changing all the time every five minutes—well it's not exactly easy to come up with solutions unfortunately That's clear that's clear And then well It's not easy either I think Violaine just getting people on the ground to accept it You see there's the political aspect There's the courage it takes but there's also getting it accepted making the bitter pill go down as they say Unless perhaps if we can get them to understand that it's too dangerous for all these people to stay It's true that the problem is also that there are I think Violaine I don't know what you think but we say it about all sorts of things but really it's just a lack of culture So were talking about the culture of emptiness not too long ago nothing to see there But now in France even in those very areas There is a lack of risk awareness In fact simply put I believe that over time inevitably we forget about the risks And besides we have a common French expression that we use all the time which is "we have a short memory " And there it's been 15 years Naturally this memory can fade even vanish Yeah and on that note I completely agree Just look at how much the coast draws people in France I think we can say that She's never drawn so much attention as she does now And we see it in our everyday lives Yeah and she's more captivating than ever this coast Everyone wants to settle there in France living next to the sea Today of course for many people it's the thing The most important thing is of course perhaps it 's a cream pie what I'm saying at is something pulled out spontaneously without much thought But these are facts too This is even more true in this case since the pandemic since Covid Undoubtedly I can talk to you about Brittany which I know well and especially Saint-Malo for instance where I spend my holidays ever since I was a child at least around Saint-Malo where property prices have simply skyrocketed even though it's by the water Yeah in Saint-Malo it's madness And in La Rochelle which I know much better It's the same everywhere Everyone wants to live there Everyone wants to settle there Many Parisians in fact are moving there They buy a vacation home That's quite common It's the trend to spend weekends there or even holidays Why not It's true it's not very far I'm talking about Parisians but then again not just them La Rochelle is incredibly trendy everywhere And I know it's the same in Biarritz another town located on the coast We're no longer in the south but Biarritz It's madness So in Brittany as you said too we can also talk about the Côte d'Azur of course which continues to captivate just as much as ever And that was already true before the Covid pandemic So in fact there it is all along the coast no matter the dangers no matter the memories no matter the storms everyone wants to be there Yeah yeah Even so we can mention Marseille which is attracting more and more people Right now everyone wants to live in Marseille And in reality the rising waters the threat of storms flooding as you said all of it the people They forget over time And if you ask me I'd even say there's a kind of denial or a way of telling oneself well I've seen the forecasts—they 're for the year 2100 so I'm perfectly fine It'll mainly affect the generations to come I want to treat myself buy my little house by the water and spend my retirement in the sun Yeah and I know a couple Violenne who bought you know last year it was a house on the island of Ré with You see the sea view no floors anyway We were just talking about floors earlier and which ones had at mindset you just mentioned You see it's an older couple I'd say around seventy years old maybe just a bit more right on the edge and who knows you see by the year 2100 that's very far away They They won’t be there anymore normally even though I hope they’re still alive but 2100 is still far off And there you have it and then after that It's true that you know that couple I'm talking about—they 're from around here local folks So I can understand too On one hand you know that they made that choice that they're thinking about themselves that they 're thinking about their own happiness that's all Yeah You can't take that away from them at least not entirely but the point is that a culture of risk does exist to some extent at least somewhat more so fifteen years ago but that's not quite it yet There's still progress to be made and then the other argument or the other obstacle And what makes bold actions difficult is the economic factor The economy money—after all it's still the lifeblood of war I don't think we've talked about it yet but it's true that it's still difficult to reconcile ecology and economics ecology and tourism It's possible it exists but it's not easy No it's not easy Once again we come back to the same point a bit of political courage and by the way you see Violaine having to come up with smart solutions to please at least a little bit of everyone on both sides or at least that's the idea ot to disappoint the economy and ecology But yes it's true that if tomorrow you tell Biarritz Nice you suddenly stop building hotels opening restaurants or even launching developing or carrying out a tourism project That’s going to make teeth grind That’s really going to make teeth grind There you go as the saying goes an expression to convey what It’s simply going to… Generate anger That's for sure absolutely certain but it's not easy to know what to do But there' s one thing on which everyone in France agrees at last a vast majority of people I believe is that action must be take against climate change After the question it's always about how and what to do And on that we aren't always Of course we agree I'm thinking it 's true that we Violaine have focused on France on what we know but I'd be very curious you know to find out how it 's going elsewhere where all our students live whether there's a similar kind of grasp perhaps conscience and above all you see what kind of measures we could take with them you know so there you go it would be interesting to know wouldn't it That would be very interesting We haven't discussed it but I saw a report on television about Venice Italy of course a place that experiences flooding quite regularly and as I believe has also installed a system of sea barriers rather a kind of The barrier rises actually when there are strong tides I recommend you check out the footage —it's quite impressive to see And furthermore it seems to be effective Great great—well you know I'll go check it out I'll take a look at it in any case a little later there you go you understand for the past 15 years France has been taking measures more or less effective Violaine o prepare to face climate change Is that enough That's the question Well we have expressions in French—we say f you see the glass half full you can say it 's positive better than before but if you see even with the glass half empty you see it's really just a figment of the imagination one could certainly say it's quite obviously inadequate and that there 's still plenty of progress to be made It depends on your perspective really Yeah well I'll admit at today I feel like seeing the glass half full and being a bit positive You' re right we really should You're right And you listening now so is your country affected by rising waters and what solutions exist where you are Let us know in the comments below the episode — we're genuinely eager to hear your thoughts we read every single one and besides I find this topic absolutely fascinating And it would be great to compare I don't know it 's just hard to compare our countries you know the places the areas the spots where we all live that 's it As usual It's always really fascinating Don't forget to subscribe if you haven 't already Once again Thank you for your loyalty and we'll see you next time Hi