VOA慢速英语2016 全球三分之一的人口无法看到银河（在线收听）

One-Third of World’s Population Cannot See The Milky Way 全球三分之一的人口无法看到银河

If you have ever seen the Milky Way galaxy, you know what a beautiful sight it is: a truly massive group of shining stars stretching across the night sky.

如果你曾看到银河系，你肯定知道那是多么美的一番景象：浩瀚的繁星闪烁着照亮夜空。

But a new study finds that one-third of the world’s population no longer can see the Milky Way at night.

但最新的研究发现全球三分之一的人口再也不能在夜间看到银河了。

The findings were reported in the journal Science Advances.

《科学进展》杂志对此项发现进行了报道。

The new report says that in the United States, it is even harder to see the Milky Way. For 80 percent of Americans, it is impossible or very difficult to see the galaxy at night.

此项最新的报道表示，在美国更难看到银河。对于80%的美国人来说，要想在夜间看到银河都是不太可能或者极其困难的。

The problem is light pollution. The sky is brightened at night by street lights and other artificial, or man-made, lighting.This is especially true in big cities.

问题在于光污染。路灯以及其他人造灯光照亮了夜空。大城市中尤其如此。

Light pollution not only blocks our viewing of the stars and planets; it can also affect natural events or activities here on Earth.

光污染不仅会阻挡我们观看星星和星球的视线；还会影响地球上的自然活动。

The Milky Way is a spiral structure.Earth is actually part of the galaxy, so we cannot take a picture of the entire formation.

银河是螺旋状结构。实际上，地球是银河系的一部分，因此，我们无法拍摄到完整的银河系。

From where we are, the Milky Way has looked like a massive star formation stretching across the night sky.

从我们所处的位置来看，银河像是巨大的星幕笼罩夜空。

NASA, the American space agency, says the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across, from one end to the other. Our galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars.

美国宇航局NASA表示，银河横跨100,000光年。有数千亿恒星。

Since the beginning of time, humans have gathered to look at stars in the night sky.The Milky Way at first might look like a group of storm clouds.But actually, it is many stars in cloud-like groups.They shine so brightly they give off white light – the same color as milk.

从有时间开始，人们一直不停观看夜空中的星星。乍一看来，银河像是一些暴雨云团。但实际上，它是一些类似暴雨云团的恒星。他们闪耀着发出白色光芒，就像是牛奶的颜色。

The ancient Greeks had a story that said the white band of stars was milk left in the sky by a goddess.

古希腊有个故事，故事中，一个女神的牛奶洒在空中，星星分散着宛如一条白色带子。

The study in the journal Science Advances is the work of an international team of scientists.The team created a series of maps that show where the world’s light pollution is strongest and weakest.Their maps were based on satellite data and sky brightness measurements.

《科学进展》发表的研究是一个国际小组的科学家的成果。该小组制作了一系列地图显示地球上光污染最严重以及最不严重的地点。他们的地图是根据来自卫星的数据和天空亮度测量值绘制得出的。

“I hope that this atlas will finally open the eyes of people to light pollution,” said the study’s lead author Fabio Falchi.He works for the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute in Italy.

“我希望这个地图集能够让人们了解光污染，”该研究的首席作者 Fabio Falchi说道。他在意大利光污染科学技术研究所工作。

The Institute says its goal is to limit light pollution and the negative effects on the night environment.The new guide is a follow up to the first World Atlas describing light pollution in 2001.

该研究所表示其目标在于控制光污染以及光污染对夜间环境造成的不利影响。最新的合集是第一本世界地图册的续本，第一本地图册对2001年的光污染进行了描述。

The new study found that Singapore, Italy and South Korea have the most widespread light pollution.

最新的研究表明，新加坡、意大利和韩国光污染最为普遍。

There are only small areas in Western Europe with low levels of light pollution.Those places are mostly in Scotland, Sweden and Norway.The western United States has huge amounts of wide open space.But the study found that nearly half of the U.S. experiences light pollution.

西欧地区只有一小部分地区出现了轻微的光污染。主要集中在苏格兰、瑞典和挪威。美国西部有大量空旷的地方。但研究发现，美国有近一半地方出现了光污染。

The researchers found that two other countries, Canada and Australia, have the most ‘dark sky’ – or night-time light levels low enough to see the stars.

研究人员发现加拿大和澳大利亚则享有“漆黑的夜空”-或者说夜间灯光光照水平较低，可以看见星星。

Dan Duriscoe of the U.S. National Park Service was the study’s co-author.He says that U.S. national parks are just about the last havens of darkness.He pointed out that places such as Yellowstone and the desert southwest have the darkest night skies.

美国国家公园管理局的Dan Duriscoe是此项研究的合作作者。他表示，美国国家公园是最后一个能够看到漆黑夜空的地方。他指出，黄石公园和西南沙漠这些地区有最漆黑的夜空。

“We’re lucky to have a lot of public land that provides a buffer from large cities,” said Duriscoe.

Duriscoe说道：“很幸运，我们有很多公用地来缓冲大城市（的光污染）。”

Researchers have looked into the increase of artificial light over the years.They say not only does it affect our view of the Milky Way, but it has been shown to have a big impact on human health and on wildlife, too.

研究人员观察到人造光逐年增长。他们表示，这些光不仅干扰观看银河的视线，还会对人的健康和野生动物造成影响。

Scientists have found that artificial light can confuse insects, birds and sea turtles.It can also put them in situations that can kill them.

科学家发现人造光会干扰昆虫、鸟类和海龟。还可以将它们置于一种可将其杀死的境地。

Words in This Story

galaxy – n. a big collection of stars

viewing – n. the ability to see

spiral – n. a circular curving line that goes around a central point, and gets closer and farther away from it

entire – adj. complete or full

fit – v. how something goes into a space

band – n. a thick line

negative – adj. harmful or bad

haven – n. a place where you are protected from trouble or danger

buffer – n. something that give protection by separating things

confuse – v. to make something difficult to understand