科学美国人60秒 SSS 香港如何识别看不见的尾气排放？

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。

Air pollution causes millions of premature¹ deaths around the world every year, according to an estimate by the World Health Organization.

据世界卫生组织估计，空气污染每年导致全球数百万人过早死亡。

And one of the most significant drivers of air pollution in cities is exhaust that comes out of tailpipes from cars, trucks and buses.

城市空气污染最主要的驱动因素之一是汽车、卡车和公共汽车排气管中的废气。

In an effort to tame its air pollution, the city of Hong Kong has deployed² a system that can sense when a high polluting vehicle drives by.

为了缓解空气污染，香港市已经部署了一种系统，当高污染的车辆驶过时，该系统可以感知到。

There are more than 150 sites for monitoring of vehicle emissions³ in Hong Kong, so that high-emitting vehicles can be identified quickly and enforced for repair.

香港有超过150个监测车辆排放的地点，以便迅速找出排放严重的车辆，并强制进行维修。

John Zhou is an environmental engineer at the University of Technology Sydney.

约翰·周(John Zhou)是悉尼科技大学的环境工程师。

And he's co-author on a new analysis of the program, in the journal Science Advances.

他是发表在《科学进步》杂志上的一篇关于该项目的新分析的合著者。

He says the system works like this.

他说这个系统是这样运作的。

Sensors⁴ at road level shoot beams of light across the road, to a reflector.

道路上的传感器发射光束穿过道路，到达反射器。

The sensors then measure how much light is absorbed by pollutants⁵, and roughly calculate emissions from passing vehicles.

这些传感器可以测量污染物吸收了多少光，并大致计算出过往车辆的排放量。

At the same time, the system is reading license⁶ plates, and sends notices to big polluters.

该系统同时可以读取车牌号，并向大型污染车辆发送通知。

Enforcement began in 2014.

执法始于2014年。

In the following four years, the program pulled 16,000 vehicles off the road—mostly taxis, but also private cars and buses.

在接下来的四年里，该项目让16000辆汽车停靠路边，其中大部分是出租车，但也有私家车和公交车。

Government subsidies⁷ helped fix up 96 percent of those vehicles, and ensured they passed smog tests.

政府补贴帮助修复了其中96%的车辆，并确保它们通过了雾霾测试。

You know, hopefully, from the publication of this research, we can raise awareness⁸ about the effectiveness of getting the heavy polluting vehicles off the road.

希望通过这项研究的发表，我们可以提高人们对让重污染车辆远离道路的有效性的认识。

The repairs cut pollutants like carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from the city's air.

车辆维修减少了城市空气中的一氧化碳和氮氧化物等污染物。

And that spared people from breathing them in.

这就避免了人们吸入污染物。

But the repairs had another effect too.

但维修工作还有另一个影响。

By reducing pollution from the tailpipe, we're also simultaneously⁹ increasing the performance of fuel combustion¹⁰ in vehicles.

通过减少尾气污染，我们同时也提高了汽车的燃料燃烧性能。

Indirectly¹¹ contributing to the reduction of fuel.

间接地减少了燃料。

Therefore, the reduction of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

因此，二氧化碳等温室气体减少了。

By cleaning up its air, Zhou says Hong Kong has cut carbon emissions too.

周表示，通过净化空气，香港也减少了碳排放。

That's a win-win for people in the city—and beyond.

这对城市内外的人们来说是双赢的。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。

1 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

2 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

3 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。

4 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

5 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

6 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

7 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

10 combustion   

n.燃烧；氧化；骚动

参考例句：

• We might be tempted to think of combustion.我们也许会联想到氧化。
• The smoke formed by their combustion is negligible.由它燃烧所生成的烟是可忽略的。

11 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。