美国国家公共电台 NPR--How cities around the world deal with toxic air quality

How cities around the world deal with toxic¹ air quality

Transcript²

The air quality is plummeting³ in many parts of North America as the Canadian wildfires continue to burn. We find out how other cities around the world deal with the challenge of living with toxic air.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

There are some 400 wildfires burning in Canada, and hundreds of U.S. firefighters have joined the battle. President Biden has directed the National Interagency Fire Center to promptly⁴ respond to Canadian requests for additional help. Reporter Emma Jacobs has the latest from Canada.

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IRENE NEEPOSH: I'm here to provide you with another update...

EMMA JACOBS, BYLINE⁵: Over the last several days, Chief Irene Neeposh of the Waswanipi First Nation has been posting regular updates on Facebook in English and in Cree.

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NEEPOSH: ...On the evacuations. We've completed level 2A and 2B, meaning the people with medical conditions have been evacuated⁷ and also the children, elders and pregnant women.

JACOBS: She's speaking to residents who remain in the community, as well as those evacuated or on the road to Quebec City, 300 miles to the south.

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NEEPOSH: The ones that are - still remain in Waswanipi, I need to ask you to reduce the use of gas, for if in the case we do need to evacuate⁶, you'll have to work with what you've got.

JACOBS: The fires have led to the full or partial evacuation of several small communities in the north of Quebec. Most of the smoke affecting the East Coast has been coming from this region, but fires are still active across a swath of Canada from west to east. There are over 400 active fires across the country. In Quebec, cars were backed up on the road from Chibougamau, which ordered all 7,500 residents to evacuate earlier this week.

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MANON CYR: (Speaking French).

JACOBS: Chibougamau's mayor, Manon Cyr, said she knows it's difficult for people to remain patient, but they should expect to remain for several days.

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FRANCOIS LEGAULT: (Speaking French).

JACOBS: Quebec's premier⁸, Francois Legault, said the roughly 13,000 total evacuees⁹ shouldn't expect to go home before significant rain arrives to aid firefighters on Monday night. That's despite the addition of hundreds of firefighters who began arriving yesterday from France and the United States. With over 100 wildfires burning in Quebec alone, they will assist fire crews there and members of the Canadian military already on the ground.

For NPR News, I'm Emma Jacobs in Montreal.

MART?NEZ: Thick smoke from those intense wildfires in Canada continues to drift across much of the United States, blanketing many cities with a toxic haze¹⁰. That's triggered days of air quality warnings in New York, Washington and other cities. Schools across the east have been canceling outdoor activities. Vulnerable people have been advised to stay indoors. Flights have been grounded in some places due to poor visibility. And also, a number of Broadway shows and sporting events have been canceled.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

Yeah. That's right. Margaret Cirino from New York City says the streets have been unusually empty, and the journey to work lately has been, quote, "wild."

MARGARET CIRINO: The sky was bright orange yesterday, and everyone on the subway was, like, masking up.

MART?NEZ: Kristi Balazy in Falls Church, Va., says she hasn't been going outside much.

KRISTI BALAZY: The haze has been really ominous¹¹ in how it looks outside, and it's been hard to breathe when walking.

KHALID: This is unusual in this part of the country but very familiar to many folks in other parts of the world. For millions, toxic air quality is a daily reality. Some cities have learned to combat pollution, while others are learning to live with it. First, we hear from NPR's Eyder Peralta in Mexico City, then Anthony Kuhn in Seoul and reporter Shalu Yadav in New Delhi.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Mexico City was once known as the most polluted city in the world. The air quality here is still bad. Today, the AQI reached 123, which is unhealthy for people with respiratory problems. And you feel it. Your eyes get watery¹², your throat scratchy, and the sky looks hazy¹³. But in the '90s and early 2000s, air quality would routinely hit extremely bad levels, with AQI in the 200s. So how did it get better? Essentially¹⁴, the government got tough on pollution with a complex system of countermeasures.

Less-efficient cars are allowed limited time on the road, and as soon as the air quality gets bad, either too high a concentration of ozone¹⁵ or particulate¹⁶ matter, the government orders even newer, more efficient cars off the streets. They order factories to reduce their output. Food vendors¹⁷ are prohibited from using charcoal¹⁸, and roadwork stops. If the air quality doesn't improve, the countermeasures get tougher. It can mean residents can't drive to work or school, for example, so they have to walk, bike or take public transportation. If it gets bad enough, government offices are shut down.

And this program has made a huge difference. In the '90s, Mexico City faced terrible air every month. Mexicans used to joke the air was so bad so often that birds would die mid-flight. Currently, really bad days are rare. We only have a handful of environmental contingencies¹⁹ each year.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE: I'm Anthony in Seoul, where my air quality app is telling me the air quality right now is 70, which is moderate, not terrible. I used to report from Beijing, where, until recent years, air pollution was often off the charts. I used to live in an old neighborhood and burn coal in stoves to heat my home. That was before we had apps and air quality monitors, and many people around me had difficulty telling the difference between weather and pollution, fog and smog. Sure, it was unhealthy, but I saw it as part of the story I was covering and living.

In recent years, Beijing's air has improved as the government has moved factories out of the city center and phased out coal stoves. When I moved to Seoul 4 1/2 years ago, I thought I was leaving this smog behind. But I was wrong. It followed me.

Some of South Korea's air pollution blows over from China. A lot of it is homemade. Yoon Suk Yeol, who took over as South Korea's president last year, has said that by the end of his five-year term, he'll get air quality up to the level of London or Paris. So far this year, though, we've had plenty of bad air days of air quality of 100 or worse. Not much I can do on those except stay indoors, crank up the air purifiers and wait for a stiff northwest wind to blow the smog away.

SHALU YADAV, BYLINE: This is Shalu in New Delhi, opening my curtains to see what it looks like outside. The sun is out. The sky is looking blue. But there's also a fair bit of dust flying around as morning traffic builds up here. The AQI app on my phone tells me that the air outside today is unhealthy for sensitive groups. The AQI level is 117, which is, frankly²⁰, not alarming enough for Delhiites to be worried. And that's because we have it so much worse in winters, when the AQI level sometimes goes beyond 700.

When it's that time of the year, I often don't need the app to tell me how grim it is outside. It's so bad that my eyes burn as soon as I wake up. I can taste the pollutants²¹ in my mouth, and the lungs feel like an overworked machine that needs a break. In fact, some studies suggest that breathing in the Delhi air is as dangerous as smoking about two dozen cigarettes a day. Emissions²² from factories, vehicles and burning of stubble by farmers - all these factors come together to make Delhi's air toxic. And the government's efforts to relieve the problem, restricting building construction and traffic to try and mitigate²³ the pollution, isn't really enough.

MART?NEZ: That was Eyder Peralta in Mexico City, Anthony Kuhn in Seoul, Shalu Yadav in New Delhi.

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1 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。

2 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。

3 plummeting   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Prices are rising, falling, going up, going down, shooting up, plummeting, etc. 物价在上涨、下跌、上升、下落、猛然上涨、骤然下跌等。 来自辞典例句
• The enemy plane went plummeting into the sea. 敌机直直掉进海里。 来自辞典例句

4 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

5 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。

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 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

9 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

12 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。

13 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

14 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。

15 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

16 particulate   

adj.微小的；n.微粒，粒子

参考例句：

• A special group was organized to dig up the particulate of the case.成立了一个专门小组来查明该案件的各个细节。
• Lungs retain relatively insoluble particulate material.肺脏内留有不溶解的颗粒物质。

17 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

18 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

19 contingencies   

n.偶然发生的事故，意外事故( contingency的名词复数 )；以备万一

参考例句：

• We must consider all possible contingencies. 我们必须考虑一切可能发生的事。
• We must be prepared for all contingencies. 我们要作好各种准备，以防意外。 来自辞典例句

20 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

21 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

22 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。

23 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。