VOA标准英语2009年-Scientists: Australian Aboriginal Knowledg

As Australia's federal parliament prepares to vote this week on a sweeping¹ carbon trading program, scientists say that aboriginal² fire management practices could help reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions³. Indigenous⁴ techniques have limited the severity and scale of brushfires that break out every year across northern Australia's vast savannahs.
　
A wind change opens up a 10km firefront which has ripped through nearly 6,000 ha of pristine⁵ Wilson's Promontory⁶ national park, southeast of Melbourne, 14 Feb 2009

About 90 percent of the brushfires in Australia occur in the country's far north.

Each year large areas of savannah are inundated⁷ during the wet season, which accelerates the growth of vegetation. Traditionally, Aboriginal people burned off small sections of grassland⁸ to limit the damage from wildfires during the drier months.

The use of strategically positioned spot fires is part of a range of indigenous techniques that reduce the carbon emitted during planned burn-offs.

Since the European settlement of Australia the aboriginal fire management practices have faded.

But Scott Heckbert, an environmental economist⁹ at Australia's national science agency, the CSIRO, thinks that aboriginal knowledge can help reduce carbon pollution.

"Being able to go out in the early dry season when fires that are lit don't turn into massive infernos¹⁰, they can create a mosaic¹¹ of patchiness in the fuel that exists on the ground. In the late dry season, large wild fires that will inevitably¹² start do not carry for thousands of kilometers across the landscape, as would happen in a completely unmanaged situation," he said.

Heckbert notes that wildfires account for about three percent of Australia's carbon emissions. Scientists have estimated that the widespread use of traditional fire management methods could cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by up to five million tons.

Offsetting¹³ these reductions under a proposed carbon trading system could generate millions of dollars for indigenous communities, which are some of Australia's most disadvantaged.

Some aboriginal groups are considering renting out their woodlands and plains to store carbon as part of giant sequestration programs. Those plans aim to harness the ability of trees and soil to soak up carbon dioxide.

Australia is one of the world's worst per capita emitters of greenhouse gases, which scientists think contribute to global warming. Federal lawmakers meet this week to vote on the government's ambitious carbon trading system.

It would compel companies to buy permits for every ton of carbon they emit, a mechanism¹⁴ designed to provide financial incentives¹⁵ to reduce pollution. It would cover about 75 percent of emissions from Australia's one thousand largest polluters.

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 aboriginal   

adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的

参考例句：

• They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
• The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。

3 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。

4 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

5 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

6 promontory   

n.海角；岬

参考例句：

• Genius is a promontory jutting out of the infinite.天才是茫茫大地突出的岬角。
• On the map that promontory looks like a nose,naughtily turned up.从地图上面，那个海角就像一只调皮地翘起来的鼻子。

7 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 grassland   

n.牧场，草地，草原

参考例句：

• There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
• The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 infernos   

n.地狱( inferno的名词复数 )；很热的地方

参考例句：

• I have heard heroes could travel between Infernos without moving. 我听说英雄们不需要移动就能穿梭于地狱之间。 来自互联网
• Arch Devils are the most powerful creature of the Infernos. 大恶魔是地狱里最强大的生物。 来自互联网

11 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

12 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

13 offsetting   

n.偏置法v.抵消( offset的现在分词 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• Dealers, having concluded a forward contract, should always hedge with an offsetting contract. 外汇经营商在签订了一项远期合同之后总是应进行套头交易签订一项相抵合同。 来自辞典例句
• Where does Germany think offsetting shifts into greater external deficits might occur? 在德国看来，这么大的外部赤字应该转移到哪里？ 来自互联网

14 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

15 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法