2023考研英語閱讀喜馬拉雅山受到污染
Pollution in the Himalayas Time to call the sweep?
喜馬拉雅山受到了污染 是時候呼吁清掃了嗎?
Soot gets everywhere. Even into the world s highest mountains
到處都彌漫著煙灰,甚至蔓延到了世界的最高山。
THE Himalayas and the adjacent Tibetan plateau are sometimes referred to as the Earth sthird pole, because of the amount of ice they host. They are also known as Asia s watertower. Their glaciers feed the continent s largest riversand those, in turn, sustain some 1.5billion people. Many studies suggest, though, that the Himalayan glaciers have been shrinkingover the past few decades. This has usually been attributed to rising air temperatures, butclimate researchers have now come to realise that tiny airborne particles of soot and dustare also to blame. Being dark, they absorb sunlight. And that warms their surroundings.
喜馬拉雅山及其鄰近的青藏高原有時被稱作是地球第三極,這是因為它們身上覆蓋著大量的冰雪。有時也被稱作亞洲水塔,它們所蘊藏的冰川是這片大陸中最大河流的水源,反過來這些河流維系著15億人的生命。然而許多研究表明在過去的數十年里喜馬拉雅山的冰川在不斷地減少。這通常是由不斷高升的氣溫所致,但是氣候研究人員開始意識到這也歸咎于空氣中的煙灰粒子和塵埃,因為這些物質是黑色的,所以吸收陽光,進而使得周圍氣溫升高。
Near cities, and in regions like South-East Asia, where people are clearing vegetation byburning it, soot is expected. But as Angela Marinoni of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciencesand Climate in Bologna explained to an audience at the 2nd Third Pole Environment Workshopin Kathmandu on October 27th, the high Himalayas are also under an onslaught from this sortof pollution. Even at altitudes above 5,000 metres , soot is widespread. Andwhen it lands on glaciers it accelerates their melting.
在城市附近和像在東南亞這些地區,人們燒毀植被,因此就產生了煙灰。但是10月27日在加德滿都舉行的第二次第三極環境研討會上,但是來自波隆納的Angela Marinoni??一位大氣物理學及氣候研究所的研究人員對一名觀眾解釋到: 喜馬拉雅山也受到了這種煙灰的污染 .即使在海拔高于5000米的地區也彌漫著煙灰,當它們飄落到了冰川上,就會加速冰川的融化。
Dr Marinoni and her colleagues have been examining Himalayan soot since 2006. In thatyear the Nepal Climate Observatory - Pyramid, in the Khumbu valley, began a full-time studyof aerosol particles, soot among them. The researchers initial intention was to takeadvantage of what they assumed would be the pristine conditions found at such highaltitude to measure typicalbackground conditions of the atmosphere. Instead, they were surprised to find a thick haze,loaded with soot, smothering the mountain slope. In the rainless pre-monsoon monthsbetween January and May, about one day in five saw the Khumbu valley blanketed in a densebrown cloud.
自從2006年開始Dr Marinoni和他的同事就在調查研究喜馬拉雅山上的煙灰。在那年,尼泊爾氣象天文臺金字塔在孔布山谷開始專職研究浮質粒子中的煙灰。研究的初始目的是利用地處這片高緯度地區的原始地貌來測量大氣中特殊的背景環境。然而他們驚訝的發現了一片充斥著煙塵的厚厚陰霾,籠罩著山坡。一月至五月是少雨的前季風時期,孔布山谷平均每五天中就有一天籠罩在厚厚的棕色煙云下。
By analysing atmospheric circulation patterns, Dr Marinoni and her colleagues found thatwinds could bring soot and dust from as far away as Europe, the Middle East and NorthAfrica. And if that were not bad enough, the Himalayan valleys act as chimneys, pumpingpollutants from the Indian plains to the mountain peaks. Dr Marinoni estimates that thecombined effect of this crud could reduce the glaciers ability to reflect light by 2-5% andincrease the amount of melting by 12-34%.
通過分析大氣循環類型,Dr Marinoni和他的同事發現風力可以把煙灰和塵土從遠至歐洲,中東和北非等地帶到喜馬拉雅山上。如果這還不夠糟糕的話,喜馬拉雅山谷就猶如煙囪一樣,把印度平原的污染物排放到喜馬拉雅山峰。Dr Marinoni估計這種雜質的共同作用能使冰川的反光能力降低2-5%,融化范圍增加1234%。
Those suggestions are corroborated by a study led by Xu Baiqing of the Chinese Academy ofSciences Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, in Beijing. His team drilled cores from the iceof five Tibetan glaciers in order to examine the past few decades worth of pollution. Thesecores show that the level of pollution, especially soot, in Himalayan glaciers correlates withemissions in Europe and South Asia.
中國科學院青藏高原研究所的徐柏青領導做了一項研究證實了以上研究人員的發現。他的研究小組鉆取了青藏高原5大冰川的冰心以觀察過去數十年的污染。這些冰心不僅表明了此地的污染程度,更重要的是說明了喜馬拉雅山冰川上的煙灰與歐洲和南亞的排放相關。
In the north-west and centre of the Tibetan plateau Dr Xu and his team found thatparticularly high levels of soot had fallen on the glaciers during the 1950s. These regions areunder the influence of westerly winds, suggesting that the soot in question originated inEurope. That hypothesis is supported by the observation that soot levels fell during the1970s, a period when many European countries enacted clean-air regulations.
在青藏高原的西北部和中部地區徐博士和他的研究小組發現:在20世紀50年代大量的灰塵落在冰川上。這些地區受西風影響,因此研究人員正討論這些煙灰可能來自于歐洲。一項調查報告證實了這個假設,報告表明20世紀70年代大量灰塵落到了喜馬拉雅山冰川上,而且就在這一時期許多歐洲國家制定了凈化空氣的法規。
The glaciers in the south-eastern part of the plateau, by contrast, are downwind of theIndian subcontinentand Dr Xu found that the concentration of soot in those glaciers wentup by 30% between 1990 and 2003, coinciding with a period of rapid industrial growth inIndia.
相比之下,青藏高原東南部地區的冰川地處于印度次大陸的順風處,徐柏青發現1990年至2003年間其地區的煙灰覆蓋增長了30%,恰巧與印度這時期工業的迅速發展成正比。
The worry is not that the Himalayan glaciers will disappear. Despite a foolish mistake in areport by the International Panel on Climate Change suggesting that this might happenquickly, no one believes that to be the case. But accelerated melting induced by this sootcould cause flooding. That would be bad enough.
人們所擔憂的并非是喜馬拉雅山冰川將會消失。盡管國際氣候變化小組發布一項愚蠢的報告,表示在不久的將來可能會發生這一慘劇,但是沒有人去相信。煙灰會加速冰川融化進而導致洪水的爆發。盡管這樣,這也已經夠遭的了。
Pollution in the Himalayas Time to call the sweep?
喜馬拉雅山受到了污染 是時候呼吁清掃了嗎?
Soot gets everywhere. Even into the world s highest mountains
到處都彌漫著煙灰,甚至蔓延到了世界的最高山。
THE Himalayas and the adjacent Tibetan plateau are sometimes referred to as the Earth sthird pole, because of the amount of ice they host. They are also known as Asia s watertower. Their glaciers feed the continent s largest riversand those, in turn, sustain some 1.5billion people. Many studies suggest, though, that the Himalayan glaciers have been shrinkingover the past few decades. This has usually been attributed to rising air temperatures, butclimate researchers have now come to realise that tiny airborne particles of soot and dustare also to blame. Being dark, they absorb sunlight. And that warms their surroundings.
喜馬拉雅山及其鄰近的青藏高原有時被稱作是地球第三極,這是因為它們身上覆蓋著大量的冰雪。有時也被稱作亞洲水塔,它們所蘊藏的冰川是這片大陸中最大河流的水源,反過來這些河流維系著15億人的生命。然而許多研究表明在過去的數十年里喜馬拉雅山的冰川在不斷地減少。這通常是由不斷高升的氣溫所致,但是氣候研究人員開始意識到這也歸咎于空氣中的煙灰粒子和塵埃,因為這些物質是黑色的,所以吸收陽光,進而使得周圍氣溫升高。
Near cities, and in regions like South-East Asia, where people are clearing vegetation byburning it, soot is expected. But as Angela Marinoni of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciencesand Climate in Bologna explained to an audience at the 2nd Third Pole Environment Workshopin Kathmandu on October 27th, the high Himalayas are also under an onslaught from this sortof pollution. Even at altitudes above 5,000 metres , soot is widespread. Andwhen it lands on glaciers it accelerates their melting.
在城市附近和像在東南亞這些地區,人們燒毀植被,因此就產生了煙灰。但是10月27日在加德滿都舉行的第二次第三極環境研討會上,但是來自波隆納的Angela Marinoni??一位大氣物理學及氣候研究所的研究人員對一名觀眾解釋到: 喜馬拉雅山也受到了這種煙灰的污染 .即使在海拔高于5000米的地區也彌漫著煙灰,當它們飄落到了冰川上,就會加速冰川的融化。
Dr Marinoni and her colleagues have been examining Himalayan soot since 2006. In thatyear the Nepal Climate Observatory - Pyramid, in the Khumbu valley, began a full-time studyof aerosol particles, soot among them. The researchers initial intention was to takeadvantage of what they assumed would be the pristine conditions found at such highaltitude to measure typicalbackground conditions of the atmosphere. Instead, they were surprised to find a thick haze,loaded with soot, smothering the mountain slope. In the rainless pre-monsoon monthsbetween January and May, about one day in five saw the Khumbu valley blanketed in a densebrown cloud.
自從2006年開始Dr Marinoni和他的同事就在調查研究喜馬拉雅山上的煙灰。在那年,尼泊爾氣象天文臺金字塔在孔布山谷開始專職研究浮質粒子中的煙灰。研究的初始目的是利用地處這片高緯度地區的原始地貌來測量大氣中特殊的背景環境。然而他們驚訝的發現了一片充斥著煙塵的厚厚陰霾,籠罩著山坡。一月至五月是少雨的前季風時期,孔布山谷平均每五天中就有一天籠罩在厚厚的棕色煙云下。
By analysing atmospheric circulation patterns, Dr Marinoni and her colleagues found thatwinds could bring soot and dust from as far away as Europe, the Middle East and NorthAfrica. And if that were not bad enough, the Himalayan valleys act as chimneys, pumpingpollutants from the Indian plains to the mountain peaks. Dr Marinoni estimates that thecombined effect of this crud could reduce the glaciers ability to reflect light by 2-5% andincrease the amount of melting by 12-34%.
通過分析大氣循環類型,Dr Marinoni和他的同事發現風力可以把煙灰和塵土從遠至歐洲,中東和北非等地帶到喜馬拉雅山上。如果這還不夠糟糕的話,喜馬拉雅山谷就猶如煙囪一樣,把印度平原的污染物排放到喜馬拉雅山峰。Dr Marinoni估計這種雜質的共同作用能使冰川的反光能力降低2-5%,融化范圍增加1234%。
Those suggestions are corroborated by a study led by Xu Baiqing of the Chinese Academy ofSciences Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, in Beijing. His team drilled cores from the iceof five Tibetan glaciers in order to examine the past few decades worth of pollution. Thesecores show that the level of pollution, especially soot, in Himalayan glaciers correlates withemissions in Europe and South Asia.
中國科學院青藏高原研究所的徐柏青領導做了一項研究證實了以上研究人員的發現。他的研究小組鉆取了青藏高原5大冰川的冰心以觀察過去數十年的污染。這些冰心不僅表明了此地的污染程度,更重要的是說明了喜馬拉雅山冰川上的煙灰與歐洲和南亞的排放相關。
In the north-west and centre of the Tibetan plateau Dr Xu and his team found thatparticularly high levels of soot had fallen on the glaciers during the 1950s. These regions areunder the influence of westerly winds, suggesting that the soot in question originated inEurope. That hypothesis is supported by the observation that soot levels fell during the1970s, a period when many European countries enacted clean-air regulations.
在青藏高原的西北部和中部地區徐博士和他的研究小組發現:在20世紀50年代大量的灰塵落在冰川上。這些地區受西風影響,因此研究人員正討論這些煙灰可能來自于歐洲。一項調查報告證實了這個假設,報告表明20世紀70年代大量灰塵落到了喜馬拉雅山冰川上,而且就在這一時期許多歐洲國家制定了凈化空氣的法規。
The glaciers in the south-eastern part of the plateau, by contrast, are downwind of theIndian subcontinentand Dr Xu found that the concentration of soot in those glaciers wentup by 30% between 1990 and 2003, coinciding with a period of rapid industrial growth inIndia.
相比之下,青藏高原東南部地區的冰川地處于印度次大陸的順風處,徐柏青發現1990年至2003年間其地區的煙灰覆蓋增長了30%,恰巧與印度這時期工業的迅速發展成正比。
The worry is not that the Himalayan glaciers will disappear. Despite a foolish mistake in areport by the International Panel on Climate Change suggesting that this might happenquickly, no one believes that to be the case. But accelerated melting induced by this sootcould cause flooding. That would be bad enough.
人們所擔憂的并非是喜馬拉雅山冰川將會消失。盡管國際氣候變化小組發布一項愚蠢的報告,表示在不久的將來可能會發生這一慘劇,但是沒有人去相信。煙灰會加速冰川融化進而導致洪水的爆發。盡管這樣,這也已經夠遭的了。