美国国家公共电台 NPR--Smoke from Canada's wildfires trigger air quality warnings throughout the U.S.

Smoke from Canada's wildfires trigger air quality warnings throughout the U.S.

Transcript¹

NPR's Michel Martin talks with Ottawa Citizen reporter Elizabeth Payne about the wildfires in Canada that have spread to almost every province and territory. Smoke from the fires is reaching the U.S.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Canada is fighting wildfires in almost every one of its provinces and territories. Quebec is the hardest hit because lightning keeps igniting new fires. The fires in eastern Canada are the source of the smoke and haze² that has triggered air quality warnings throughout the U.S. It's done the same thing in Canada. In the national capital of Ottawa, bordering Quebec, the Air Quality Index has been raised to its highest level. Elizabeth Payne is a reporter with the Ottawa Citizen, and she's with us now to tell us more. Elizabeth, hello. Thanks for joining us.

ELIZABETH PAYNE: Hi. Thank you.

MARTIN: What are you seeing? What do the fires look like?

PAYNE: Well, the fires are very far away. But what it looks like - and probably people in the Northeast U.S. are now familiar with this as well - is it looks apocalyptic³. The sky is very heavy. There's an orangish, sometimes a yellow haze, very gray. I spoke⁴ to someone, a doctor in Ottawa, who talked about opening his window yesterday morning, and the sky was bright yellow. So it's just a kind of unprecedented⁵, very worrisome look out there.

MARTIN: Have any communities or areas been asked to or required to evacuate⁶? And are there any reports of damage from these wildfires?

PAYNE: Oh, yeah. I mean, there's - this is - you know, this is, of course, very early in the season, and there's wildfires. This is a big country. There's wildfires, as you said, in almost every province in the country. So there have been lots of people evacuated⁷. Some evacuate, and some have gone back. But I think in total, in six provinces to date, there have been 120,000 people asked to evacuate, something like 26,000 still unable to return home. And as you said, it changes rapidly, so, you know, new fires all the time.

MARTIN: Does the Canadian government have any recommendations for people near these fires, apart from what you just told us?

PAYNE: Well, there's lots of recommendations about taking care of your health. I mean, if you're very close to the fire - of course, some people are in - you know, have been in zones where they're given warnings that they might have to evacuate very quickly. And that's one thing. I mean, for the smoke situation in Ottawa, across Ontario and elsewhere, there's not necessarily any wildfires anywhere near us. That's what makes it so eerie⁸. And there's lots of recommendations about how to protect yourself. Many people are wearing N-95 masks outside, and that's recommended, especially if you're working outside. Remain indoors. Keep your air conditioning on. They're cancelling recreational sports leagues and kids', you know, camps outdoors and things like that. Schools are keeping kids indoors for recess⁹ to protect them from the air quality.

MARTIN: That's a lot. You know, it's always hard to ask, you know, what the mood is when people are dealing¹⁰ with a situation like that, because, you know, you're talking about, you know, millions of people who are all going to react in different ways. But as near as you can from your reporting and that of your colleagues, how would you describe how Canadians are reacting to this? This could be Canada's worst wildfire season ever. So what are people telling you about what they're concerned about?

PAYNE: Well, I mean, I think, as you say, it's a huge country. I think generally there is alarm. Canada has fire - wildfires every year. But these are in people's faces, in their lungs, in their backyards in ways that we haven't seen before. And it's extremely alarming. And, you know, federal government officials have been very outspoken¹¹ about the link to climate change and how this is the beginning of the season, and it's going to get worse. So I think there's alarm and fear about what people are experiencing.

MARTIN: That's Elizabeth Payne. She's a reporter with the Ottawa Citizen. Elizabeth, thanks so much for sharing your reporting with us.

PAYNE: Oh, thank you very much.

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 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

3 apocalyptic   

adj.预示灾祸的，启示的

参考例句：

• The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
• Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

6 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

7 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

8 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

9 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。