科学美国人60秒 SSS 如何影响环境科学和相关政策

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。

In the last episode or our preelection podcast series, we spoke¹ about climate.

在预选播客系列的上一期里，我们讨论了气候问题。

For this episode, I talked about other environmental issues with Scientific American senior editor Mark Fischetti, who oversees² our coverage³ on sustainability.

在本期节目中，我与《科学美国人》资深编辑马克·菲舍蒂讨论了其他环境问题，他负责监督关于可持续发展的报道。

Mark, what are some of the big environmental issues that are at stake in this election?

马克，这次选举涉及哪些重大环境问题？

“Well, I think a lot of people focused on climate, which is certainly something to focus on.

“嗯，我认为很多人都关注气候问题，这确实是值得关注的问题。

But you know, outside of that, I think in terms of the current administration, I think a big focus really should be looking at chemical pollution.

但是你知道，除此之外，我认为就当前的政府而言，重点应该放在化学污染上。

There are things a number of regulations that have either been reversed or just struck down or overridden⁴ by the Trump⁵ administration that essentially⁶ allow more pollution to be imposed on air and water.

特朗普政府已经撤销，废除或推翻了许多法规，这些法规基本上允许对空气和水施加更多污染。

So, for a few examples, right—so there were protections that were taken down for wetlands that basically allow for dumping of pesticides⁷ and other pollutants⁸ into the waterways.

因此，举几个例子，湿地保护措施被取消了，基本上允许向水道倾倒农药和其他污染物。

“There were regulations on emissions⁹ from power plants, not just about carbon dioxide but also about heavy metals.

“有关于发电厂排放的规定，不仅涉及二氧化碳，还涉及重金属。

So there’s actually less restriction¹⁰ on mercury that power plants could emit.

所以实际上对发电厂排放的汞的限制较少。

I mean, mercury is a horrible toxin¹¹.

我的意思是，汞是一种可怕的毒素。

And then in the whole coal-fired arena¹², there’s regulations about disposal of toxic¹³ waste that have been rolled back, too, which will add levels of lead and arsenic¹⁴ and other contaminants like that into the environment.

然后在整个燃煤领域，关于有毒废物处理的法规也被撤销了，这将增加环境中的铅，砷和其他类似污染物。

So these are long-standing toxins¹⁵ and other compounds that we know are bad for people and the environment.

所以这些是长期存在的毒素和其他化合物，我们知道它们对人类和环境都是有害的。

And those things are being rolled back as well.”

这些法规也正在被撤销。”

Well, that’s a key thing is the health aspect.

这是健康方面的关键。

Because, even if you don’t care that there will ever be another tree or another bird, human health is at stake with these things as well.

因为，即使你不在乎是否还会有另一棵树或另一只鸟，人类的健康也会因为这些污染物而受到威胁。

“Right, the birds and the trees and the squirrels and the people all use the same water and the same air and the same soil, which we forget about as well.

“是的，鸟类、树木、松鼠和人类都使用同样的水、同样的空气和同样的土壤，而我们也忘记了这些。

There are, there are some, you know, protections for soils and what kinds of chemicals can be used in agriculture, for that matter, that have been changed as well.

你知道，土壤的一些保护措施以及农业中可以使用的化学物质，就此而言，也都发生了变化。

So that's then the question is, right, you know, would this be different under Biden?

那么问题来了，对，你知道，在拜登的领导下情况会有所不同吗?

And I think it would be because a lot of those regulations, including the ones I kind of called out specifically, most of them were put in place or made tougher during the Obama and Biden administration.

我认为会有所改变，因为很多这些法规，包括我特别提到的那些，大部分都是在奥巴马和拜登政府期间实施或变得更严格的。

So I would think that the Biden administration would want to restore that.”

所以我认为拜登政府想要恢复这些法规。”

For Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。

1 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。

2 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

4 overridden   

越控( override的过去分词 )； （以权力）否决； 优先于； 比…更重要

参考例句：

• The chairman's veto was overridden by the committee. 主席的否决被委员会推翻了。
• Property '{0}' is not declarable, and cannot be overridden. 属性“{0}”是不可声明的，不能被重写。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 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。

10 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

11 toxin   

n.毒素，毒质

参考例句：

• Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
• Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。

12 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

13 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

14 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。

15 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》