美国国家公共电台 NPR--Giant blobs of seaweed are hitting Florida. That's when the real problem begins

Giant blobs of seaweed are hitting Florida. That's when the real problem begins

Transcript¹

From Montego to Miami, an influx² of algae³ leaves stinky brown carpets over what was once prime tourist sand. What to do about it is a challenge. (Story aired on All Things Considered on May 5, 2023.)

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Too much sarcasm⁴ can be annoying. Too much sargassum can cause headaches for local residents and wreck⁵ tourism economies. And by sargassum, I mean the smelly, brown algae. And record levels are starting to wash up on shores in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean. So it makes sense to get rid of it, but that creates another challenge. What do you do with a massive pile of seaweed? NPR's Emily Olson has that story.

EMILY OLSON, BYLINE⁶: It's pretty common to smell sargassum before you even see it.

ALYSON CREAN: Residents have, for years, complained about the smell 'cause when it washes ashore⁷, it smells like sulfuric acid or something.

OLSON: It smells like rotten eggs, says Alyson Crean. She's a spokesperson for the city of Key West in Florida. The longest stretch of public beach in Key West is only about a half-mile long, so it's not hard to rake stinky piles of sargassum off the sand every morning. But it costs the city about a million dollars each year, she says. And that's a cost that could rise.

CREAN: Our Tourist Development Council is freaking out.

OLSON: Research shows that excessive sargassum levels may cause nausea⁸ and respiratory issues. And now scientists think it could contain some heavy metals like arsenic⁹, and that makes leaving it all on the beach dangerous to local ecosystems¹⁰. But taking it off the beach leaves you with giant piles of stinking¹¹ seaweed. So researchers and private companies have tried turning it into fertilizer, biofuel or plastic. But it's not so easy.

PADDY ESTRIDGE: Because it's poisonous, you have to process it to make it usable to make things. And that can be too expensive for any large-scale use. I mean, there's millions and millions of tons of it.

OLSON: That's Paddy Estridge, CEO of Generation Seaweed. It's a U.K. startup that thinks it may have finally found a commercially viable¹² solution.

ESTRIDGE: We are building an automated¹³ robot called the AlgaRay, which is designed to intercept¹⁴ and sink sargassum before it can reach the coast.

OLSON: This slow-moving robot could drag sargassum down to depths of about 200 meters. That pops the air pods that keep sargassum afloat, sending the seaweed to a watery¹⁵ grave. And more importantly, it traps all the carbon that it holds, which could be a scalable way to fight climate change.

ESTRIDGE: It's a bit like an ocean Roomba to try and clear up the seaweed blob.

OLSON: The AlgaRay is still in testing phases, but Estridge hopes it might be ready to work by next summer.

Emily Olson, NPR News.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

3 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

4 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。

5 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

8 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

9 arsenic   

n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的

参考例句：

• His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
• Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。

10 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

11 stinking   

adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room. 我被推进一间又脏又臭的屋子里。
• Those lousy, stinking ships. It was them that destroyed us. 是的！就是那些该死的蠢猪似的臭飞船！是它们毁了我们。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

12 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

13 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

14 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

15 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。