VOA慢速英语--印度新德里“毒雾”持续弥漫致使学校关闭

The Indian capital of New Delhi is covered with dangerous smog. The situation has closed schools and forced officials to consider declaring a lockdown -- a stay-at-home order.

Pollution in New Delhi has reached severe levels on several days this month. Officials have ordered schools and colleges to close and ordered people to work from home in an effort to control the pollution. Six power plants in the city were also ordered to close temporarily.

The federal government has also banned construction until the end of the week. It has also barred trucks from entering the city, except those carrying important items.

Environmental experts note that these steps would only partly help the air pollution crisis¹ that troubles New Delhi every winter.

"The emergency action is not a magic bullet that will address the pollution crisis," said Anumita Roychowdhury. She is with the New Delhi's Center for Science and Environment. The steps "will not worsen the pollution but it will not clean the air," Roychowdhury added.

New Delhi is the world's most polluted capital city. It has recorded levels for dangerous particles, known as PM 2.5, many times higher than normal levels. PM 2.5 is an air pollutant² that is damaging to the lungs in high levels.

The smog that covers the city is a mix of pollutants³, including car emissions⁴, industrial pollution, dust from building projects, farm fires and pollution caused by trash burning. In winter, the pollutants hang over the city because of low wind speeds.

City officials in New Delhi told the Supreme⁶ Court they are considering a weekend lockdown, similar to what happened during severe periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. If that happens, it would be the city's first pollution-related lockdown.

The unhealthy smog is not only in the capital city. The air across much of North India also turns gray at this time of the year.

Delhi has taken some steps to fight the pollution, from shutting down coal power plants to changing most industry and public transportation to clean fuel. But nearby states have not taken the same reforms.

"Air does not respect political boundaries," Roychowdhury said. She added that the time has come to take a more widespread approach to fighting the problem.

However, discontinuing coal will not be easy. Coal still powers 70 percent of India's electricity system. Indian officials who attended the United Nations climate talks in Scotland said developing countries should be able to responsibly use fossil⁷ fuels.

"How can anyone expect that developing countries can make promises about phasing out coal and fossil fuel subsidies⁸?" Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav asked at the meeting.

India and China were criticized for weakening a promise among countries at the meeting to start discontinuing coal.

But in India, environmentalists said, the country's concerns were real.

"While coal does contribute to air pollution and climate change, we cannot shut down coal right away and replace it with renewables in a hurry," said Chandra Bhushan. She leads the Delhi-based International Forum⁹ for Environment.

For now, the severe air pollution has led to a public health emergency. Many people in New Delhi and other North Indian cities are struggling with breathing problems.

Research by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago found that the dirty air kills more than one million people every year in India.

Words in This Story

smog — n. fog mixed with smoke : a cloud of dirty air from cars, factories, etc., that is usually found in cities

magic bullet — n. something that solves a difficult problem easily

address — v. to give attention to something)

particle — n. a very small piece of something

emission⁵ — n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas) from a source

approach — n. a way of doing or thinking about something

fossil fuel — n. a fuel such as coal, oil, or natural gas that is formed in the earth from dead plants or animals

phase out — v. to stop something gradually over a period of time in a planned series of steps or phases

subsidy¹⁰ — n. money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a product or service low or to help a business or organization to continue to function

contribute — v. to help to cause something to happen

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 pollutant   

n.污染物质，散布污染物质者

参考例句：

• Coal itself is a heavy pollutant.煤本身就是一种严重的污染物。
• Carbon dioxide may not be a typical air pollutant.二氧化碳可能不是一种典型的污染物。

3 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

5 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 fossil   

n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固

参考例句：

• At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.时间隔得这么久了，很难确定这化石的年代。
• The man is a fossil.那人是个老顽固。

8 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

10 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。