【英语时差8,16】黑金农业

Hey, Don, did you know that soil deterioration¹ is one of the main contributors to global warming?

Uh, no. Yael. What do you mean?

Well, soil holds a big portion of the earth carbon in the form of organic matter. But when we work soil intensively and use chemical fertilizers, all that organic stuff breaks down quickly and gives off carbon dioxide that collects in the atmosphere.

Plus, the soil is depleted³, right? Meaning that it’s less useful for growing food.

Right. But scientists at Delaware State  University have found that an ancient method of fertilizing⁴ soil may help. Fifteen hundred years ago, people from the central Amzon area in south America made sort of charcoal⁵ by heating tree bark and animal bones without air. They used it to fertilize² soil and the researchers’ve found that this soil is still some of the richest and most fertile in the world. Scientists call the charcoal biochar.

Does this stuff actually make plants grow better?

Yes. At least in small-scale experiments. The researchers grew wheat in greenhouse pots, some with biochar and some without. The wheat fertilized⁶ with biochar grew more quickly than the wheat without.

Wow, so this stuff could help feed people and improve soil.

That’s the idea. There is something about heating organic material that makes it more stable than raw plant residue⁷. Instead of breaking down quickly and releasing carbon dioxide, it keeps carbon and nutrient⁸ soil for a really long time, even thousands of years. So it could also have a positive effect on global warming.

Cool.

More research is needed, of course. But biochar could end up chaning the way we think about farming.

1 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

2 fertilize   

v.使受精，施肥于，使肥沃

参考例句：

• Fertilizer is a substance put on land to fertilize it.肥料是施在地里使之肥沃的物质。
• Reading will fertilize his vocabulary.阅读会丰富他的词汇。

3 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

4 fertilizing   

v.施肥( fertilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Sometimes the preliminary step must be taken of reducing weed population before fertilizing. 有时候，在施肥之前，必须采取减少杂草密度的预备性步骤。 来自辞典例句
• The self fertilizing garden can also be planted in raised beds. 自我施肥的菜园也可以在苗圃床中种植。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 Fertilized   

v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of psychology has recently been widely cross-fertilized by new discoveries in genetics. 心理学研究最近从遗传学的新发现中受益匪浅。
• Flowers are often fertilized by bees as they gather nectar. 花常在蜜蜂采蜜时受粉。

7 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

8 nutrient   

adj.营养的，滋养的；n.营养物，营养品

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The roots transmit moisture and nutrient to the trunk and branches.根将水分和养料输送到干和枝。