华盛顿邮报 加拿大野火失控 美国东海岸空气严重污染(1)

 

    The sky right now, to say the least, looks dystopian.

    现在的天空，至少可以说，看起来很反乌托邦。

    That's Amudalat Ajasa. She's a weather reporter for The Post.

    这是阿穆达拉特·阿贾斯。她是《华盛顿邮报》的天气记者。

    She's talking about the hazy¹ orange yellow sky that has been looming² over the East Coast these past few days and is now heading toward the Midwest.

    她说的是过去几天赫然出现在美国东海岸，现在正在向中西部移动的雾蒙蒙的橘黄天空。

    I spoke³ to some sources in upstate New York who said it looked like they woke up on Mars.

    我采访了纽约北部的消息人士，他们说天空看起来就像他们从火星上醒来一样。

    One source even said it looked like doomsday outside.

    一位消息人士甚至说，天空看起来像世界末日似的。

    It looks like doomsday because for the past few weeks, hundreds of wildfires have been burning through the Canadian forest.

    天空看起来像是世界末日，因为在过去的几周里，数百场野火燃烧过加拿大森林。

    Smoky conditions caused by wildfires in Canada triggering a code red alert for the entire Delaware Valley.

    加拿大野火造成的烟雾天气引发了整个特拉华山谷的红色警报。

    New York City topping the list of cities with the worst air quality in the world for a bit.

    纽约一度成为世界上空气质量最差的城市。

    And the White House says that more than 600 federal firefighters have been deployed⁴ to Canada.

    白宫表示，已有600多名联邦消防员被派往加拿大。

    While the United States has grown used to increasingly devastating⁵ wildfires ravaging⁶ the West Coast, the effects of wildfires reaching the other side of the country is new.

    虽然美国已经习惯了肆虐西海岸的破坏性越来越大的野火，但野火蔓延至美国另一边(东海岸)的影响还未发生过。

    And it's not something that, you know, we're really accustomed to on the East Coast, dealing⁷ with wildfire smoke, but it's something that it looks like we might have to start getting used to.

    这种事情在东海岸并不是司空见惯的，处理野火烟雾，但我们可能得开始习惯应对这种事。

    Today people along the East Coast and parts of the Midwest are experiencing some of the worst air quality in years because of wildfires in Canada.

    今天，由于加拿大野火，东海岸以及中西部部分地区的人们正经历着多年来最糟糕的空气质量。

    I'll talk to Amudalat about the current state of the wildfires, how the smoke can affect your health, and who is at increased risk during this moment.

    我将与阿穆达拉特谈谈野火的燃烧现状，烟雾如何影响人们的健康，以及哪些人目前面临更大的风险。

    In the past two weeks, there have been over 400 wildfires in Canada, nearly 250 of which that are still uncontrolled, which means they are dispersing⁸ a lot of fine particulate⁹ matter into the air.

    在过去的两周里，加拿大发生了400多起野火，其中近250起仍未得到控制，也就是说，这些大火正在向空中扩散大量细颗粒物。

    And then on top of that, it's burning a lot of ground. I saw some readings that said about 8.2 million acres of land have been burned, according to officials there.

    除此之外，大火燃烧了很多土地。我看到一些数据，当地官员称约820万英亩的土地被烧毁。

    It seems like there's some trouble getting it contained.

    看来要控制住野火有点困难。

    Are wildfires in Canada common? We hear a lot about wildfires in the West Coast like California. But I don't often hear as much about Canadian wildfires.

    加拿大的野火常见吗? 我们经常听说西海岸发生野火，比如加州野火。但我很少听到关于加拿大野火的消息。

    I don't think you hear as much about Canadian wildfires because they aren't normally this bad.

    我认为你没有听到太多关于加拿大野火的消息，是因为那里的野火通常没有那么严重。

    Wildfires in Canada aren't necessarily uncommon¹⁰, but the amount of wildfires that are burning, how much damage it's causing, and the amount of smoke that we're seeing drift down the northeast corridor is what's unprecedented¹¹.

    加拿大野火并不罕见，但野火燃烧的数量，造成的破坏程度，以及我们看到的沿东北走廊飘落的烟雾量都是前所未有的。

    So, a lot of us on the East Coast are noticing this wildfire smoke and we're hearing these alerts for measuring how bad the air quality is like code red, code yellow.

    我们东海岸的很多人都注意到了野火产生的烟雾，我们也听到了这些测量空气质量有多差的警报，比如红色警报，黄色警报。

    Can you help us make sense of these alerts?

    你能帮我们解释清楚这些警报吗?

    Yeah, so the difference is the severity and impact on people.

    好，区别在于严重程度和对人的影响。

    When it's green, which is below 50, that means the air quality is good.

    当为绿色警报时，也就是说数值低于50，这意味着空气质量很好。

    When it's 51 to 100, that means the air quality is moderate. That's yellow.

    当数值在51到100之间时，这意味着空气质量中等，此时为黄色警报。

    When it is 101 to 150, that means the air quality is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

    当数值在101到150之间时，这意味着空气质量对敏感人群来说不健康。

    And once you get above 150, the air quality is unhealthy for everyone.

    数值一旦超过150，这意味着空气质量对每个人而言都不健康。

    And depending on how severe it gets, it just kind of heightens the risk for everyone.

    这取决于空气有多恶劣，这只会增加每个人的风险。

1 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

6 ravaging   

毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• It is believed that in fatigue there is a repeated process of ravaging the material. 据认为，在疲劳中，有一个使材料毁坏的重复过程。
• I was able to capture the lion that was ravaging through town. 我能逮住正在城里肆虐的那头狮子。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 dispersing   

adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Whereas gasoline fumes linger close to the ground before dispersing. 而汽油烟气却靠近地面迟迟不散。
• Earthworms may be instrumental in dispersing fungi or bacteria. 蚯蚓可能是散布真菌及细菌的工具。

9 particulate   

adj.微小的；n.微粒，粒子

参考例句：

• A special group was organized to dig up the particulate of the case.成立了一个专门小组来查明该案件的各个细节。
• Lungs retain relatively insoluble particulate material.肺脏内留有不溶解的颗粒物质。

10 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。