Wildfires in the UK 英国夏日野火烧遍荒野

英语大破解

Wildfires in the UK 英国夏日野火烧遍荒野

注：本节目视频于2018年7月18日制作，沙德伍兹湿地余火现已全灭。

本集内容

Wildfires in the UK 英国夏日野火烧遍荒野

学习要点

有关“火 fire”的词汇

边看边答

Which chemicals do the on-board instruments show in the smoke?

文字稿

More than two weeks after the fire on Saddleworth Moor started, it continues to smoulder. And scientists say the summer drought could bring many more wildfires in the UK and across Europe. So, these researchers are taking to the smoky air, in a laboratory on a plane, to find out what that will mean for the air that we breathe.

在英国沙德伍兹湿地大火发生后的两个多星期，余火仍在闷燃。而科学家们说今夏的干旱可能会给英国和欧洲各地带来更多野火灾害。所以，这些研究员们乘坐飞机飞向这片烟雾弥漫的天空，在机舱中的一间实验室里研究大火对我们呼吸的空气有何影响。

Professor James Lee, University of York
So, this is obviously… it’s a converted passenger plane… would normally seat about a hundred people, but most of the seats have been ripped out and replaced with a load of instruments that you can see, basically, so we can sample the constituents of the air.

詹姆斯·李教授英国约克大学
“所以，这显然是一架由客机改装的飞机，原本可载客一百人，但大部分座位都已被拆除并换上了大量的仪器，基本上，这样我们就能收集空气成分的样本了。”

Entire ecosystems have been wiped out in two major fires that are still burning in the north of England. Incidents that the fire service has described as some of the worst it’s ever seen.

整个生态系统都已被在英格兰北部两场仍在燃烧的大火彻底摧毁，这两起火灾被消防部门称作史上最严重的事故。

Shona Wilde, atmospheric chemist
We look at live data from the aircraft to identify when we think we’re going through a plume. And once I think we’re in a plume, then we hit a button and that will take a sample of air from outside the aircraft, which we collect for analysis.

舒娜·怀尔德大气化学家
“我们通过观察这架飞机收集的实时数据来识别我们何时在穿过烟气羽流。而一旦我确认已处于烟气羽流中，我们就会按下一个按钮，以从机外采集一份空气样本，然后对此进行分析。”

On-board instruments show some of the chemicals in the smoke, including methane, an important greenhouse gas, and the air pollutant carbon monoxide. Only back on the ground will the team be able to work out its exact chemical makeup and how it affects the air that we’re breathing.

机上仪器显示，烟雾中含有部分化学物质，包括重要的温室气体甲烷以及空气污染物一氧化碳。只有回到地面上后，研究团队才能查出具体的化合物构成以及它如何影响我们所呼吸的空气。

This flight is part of a much bigger global study of greenhouse gas emissions. Today though, it’s captured samples that will eventually reveal exactly what’s drifting into our towns and cities.

这次飞行是一项更大的针对全球温室气体排放研究的一部分。然而今天，该研究捕捉到的样本将揭示飘到我们城市和市中心的具体物质是什么。

词汇

smoulder 闷燃
wildfires 野火
smoky 烟雾弥漫的
plume 烟气流
drifting 漂浮

你知道吗？

In order to ignite, a fire needs three things: a flammable material, such as wood, a source of heat, and oxygen. The removal of one of these elements will extinguish the fire.

火需要三个条件才能燃烧：可燃材料，比如木头，热源和氧气。在这三个元素中少了任意一个，火就会立刻熄灭。