美国国家公共电台 NPR Snow-Making For Skiing During Warm Winters Comes With Environmental Cost

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Winter Olympics are in full swing, and sports like cross-country skiing are getting some time to shine. But you might not be able to tell it's cross-country season if you are in Colorado. Blades of grass and patches of dirt still dot cross-country trails in parts of the state. And that's put some professionals in a tough spot. Their livelihoods¹ depend on snow, but because of climate change, more and more of that snow is manmade. And as Aspen Public Radio's Elizabeth Stewart-Severy reports, that comes with an environmental cost.

ELIZABETH STEWART-SEVERY, BYLINE²: Simi Hamilton is one of the fastest cross-country skiers in the world. And before the snow fell this season, he hit the pavement in his hometown of Aspen on roller skis. Training without snow is something Hamilton is getting used to. Year after year, he watches the snow line move further up the mountains.

SIMI HAMILTON: We would be in the high Alps at 6,000 feet trying to train in the middle of January and we'd still be training on just like a 2-foot deep platform of manmade snow. And there's just green grass right next to the trails.

STEWART-SEVERY: A missed turn on this ribbon of snow means skiers get grass stains, and that's the new reality of cross-country skiing. Warming temperatures mean a later start to winter. Even after winter hits, more precipitation is falling as rain, rather than snow. Auden Schendler is vice³ president for sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company. He says the lack of snow means ski areas have to fill in Mother Nature's gaps.

AUDEN SCHENDLER: There's not a whole lot a ski resort can do other than buff out snowmaking.

STEWART-SEVERY: This means most of the snow that cross-country skiers race on is artificial. Resorts and cross-country race venues⁵ across the world blow huge piles of manmade snow. They truck it across the landscape to create skiable terrain⁶ and even store manufactured snow through the summer months. This sets up a tricky⁷ situation. A warming climate is undeniably detrimental⁸ to the ski industry, but Schendler says the manmade snow solution is just a bandaid and one that actually aggravates⁹ the problem.

SCHENDLER: So you're using a very energy-intensive fix to deal with a changing climate, and the fix cannibalizes the very climate you care about.

ELIZABETH BURAKOWSKI: It is a challenge for a professional athlete to, say, walk the walk when it comes to carbon emissions¹⁰ and reducing their carbon footprint.

STEWART-SEVERY: Elizabeth Burakowski studies changes in winter climate at the University of New Hampshire. She says more resorts are making more snow than ever before. But snowmaking technology is becoming more efficient. And, Burakowski says, in terms of global greenhouse gas emissions...

BURAKOWSKI: It's probably a drop in the bucket.

STEWART-SEVERY: Still, some athletes, like Olympic cross-country skiing Noah Hoffman, are aware that every drop counts.

NOAH HOFFMAN: We see the changes to the climate on a yearly basis, and yet, we're burning huge amounts of fossil fuels flying from venue⁴ to venue. And then the snow that we ski on is incredibly energy intensive.

STEWART-SEVERY: Hoffman tries to offset¹¹ the harm caused by his Olympic skiing dream by speaking out on environmental issues.

HOFFMAN: I don't know how to settle those two sides of the coin in my own mind.

STEWART-SEVERY: But he thinks it starts with acknowledging his own role in contributing to the problem. For NPR News, I'm Elizabeth Stewart-Severy in Aspen.

MARTIN: We should add that Simi Hamilton and Noah Hoffman are both competing in the Winter Olympics Games in South Korea. But it's been tough going for Team USA and cross-country skiing at least. No one on the men's or women's side has won a medal yet.

1 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

2 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。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

5 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

6 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

7 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

8 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

9 aggravates   

使恶化( aggravate的第三人称单数 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravates me any more I shall punish him. 如果他再惹我生气，我就要惩罚他。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each pther. 没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

10 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。

11 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。