新奇事件簿 北极圈内火灾肆虐

Hundreds of huge wildfires have broken out all across the Arctic¹ Circle. Areas in the Arctic are warming twice as fast as anywhere else on the planet. There are so many fires and they are so big that the smoke from them can be seen from space. Meteorologists report that the Arctic is having its hottest June ever and is suffering its worst wildfire season on record. There are huge blazes² covering large areas of Greenland, Siberia, Scandinavia and Alaska. In Alaska, there are as many as 400 fires burning out of control. In Greenland, melting on the vast Greenland ice sheet has started a month earlier than usual. The World Meteorological Organization has said the Arctic fires are "unprecedented³".

整个北极圈内发生了数百场大火灾。北极地区变暖的速度是地球上其他地区的两倍。该地区内多处发生火灾，火灾之巨大，从太空中都能看到火灾冒出的烟。气象学家报道称北极正在经历有史以来最热的6月，并且正在经历有记录以来最严重的野火季节。格陵兰岛、西伯利亚、斯堪的纳维亚和阿拉斯加的大片地区都发生了火灾。在阿拉斯加，多达400处火灾失控。在格陵兰岛，格陵兰大冰原的融化比往常早了一个月。世界气象组织表示北极地区的火灾是“前所未有的”。

Scientists say the fires and suffocating⁴ smoke could have an effect on global warming. Meteorologist Mark Parrington explained what is causing the wildfires. He said: "Temperatures in the Arctic have been increasing at a much faster rate than the global average, and warmer conditions encourage fires to grow and persist⁵ once they have been ignited⁶." Dry ground, more lightning strikes and strong winds have caused the fires to spread very quickly. A lot of ice has melted and the flames have set fire to methane-filled earth below the ice. This is releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The fires have also caused serious habitat loss and have killed uncountable numbers of animals.

科学家表示火灾和令人窒息的烟雾可能对全球变暖产生影响。气象学家马克·帕林顿解释了导致火灾的原因。他表示：“北极的气温增长速度一直都比全球平均速度快得多，并且更温暖的环境促使大火一旦点燃便会肆意。”干燥的土地、更多的雷击和强风导致火灾迅速蔓延。许多冰已经融化并且火焰点燃了冰层下充满甲烷的地表。这将向大气中释放大量的二氧化碳。大火还造成了严重的栖息地丧失，致使无数动物死亡。

1 Arctic   

adj.北极的；n.北极

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• The sort of animal lived in the Arctic Circle.这种动物生活在北极圈里。

2 blazes   

地狱； 火焰( blaze的名词复数 )； 光辉； 迸发； （光或色彩等的）展现

参考例句：

• Tom's new motorbike goes like blazes. 汤姆的新摩托车疾驶如飞。
• Scientists have correlated the rampant blazes with wamer temperatures and earlier snowmelt. 科学家们把这些猖獗的大火同天气变暖以及融雪时间提前联系在一起。

3 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。

4 suffocating   

a.使人窒息的

参考例句：

• After a few weeks with her parents, she felt she was suffocating.和父母呆了几个星期后，她感到自己毫无自由。
• That's better. I was suffocating in that cell of a room.这样好些了，我刚才在那个小房间里快闷死了。

5 persist   

v.持续，存留；坚持不懈，执意

参考例句：

• The bad weather will persist all over the country.这种坏天气将在全国各地持续下去。
• His strength of will enabled him to persist.他的意志力使他能坚持下去。

6 ignited   

点燃，引发( ignite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited. 爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• He ignited the wood with a band of hay. 他用一把干草引燃了这些木柴。