VOA常速英语2019--从威尼斯到悉尼，极端天气加剧了关于气候变化的争论（在线收听）

From Venice to Sydney, Extreme Weather Fuels Climate Change Debate

The waters are finally receding in Venice and the cleanup begins.

威尼斯的海水终于退去，清理工作开始了。 

A series of record-high flood tides in recent days inundated 70 percent of the city.

最近几天，一系列创历史新高的大潮淹没了威尼斯百分之七十的城市。 

St. Mark’s Basilica has been flooded six times in 1,200 years. Four of those have happened in the last 20 years.

圣马可大教堂在1200年里被洪水淹没了6次。其中4起发生在过去20年里。 

The local mayor is unequivocal.

当地市长毫不含糊。 

The floods, he says, are caused by climate change.

他说洪水是由气候变化引起的。 

“We need scientists here.

“我们这里需要科学家。 

They need to come here and create a permanent place where they can study and then recount what is happening here because of climate change with all its effects.

他们需要来到这里，建立一个可以研究的长久之地，然后讲述因为气候变化及其所有的影响而在这里发生的一切。

Venice is a frontier. We are in the trenches. We are the frontline trench of the world.”

威尼斯是边境。我们在战壕里。我们是世界的前线战壕。” 

Not all Venetians agree.

但并非所有的威尼斯人都认同这一点。 

Regional lawmakers rejected a plan to tackle climate change last week.

地区立法者上周否决了一项应对气候变化的计划。 

Just after the debate ended, the room they were meeting in flooded.

辩论刚结束，他们开会的房间就被洪水淹没了。 

The government hopes to complete a flood barrier by 2021.

政府希望在2021年前完成防洪屏障。 

Venice could suffer more catastrophic floods before then.

在此之前，威尼斯可能遭受更大的洪水灾害。 

Most scientists say the increasing frequency and intensity of floods is part of man-made climate change.

大多数科学家说，洪水频率和强度不断增加是人为气候变化的一部分。 

“It’s difficult to attribute individual events to climate change. But I think we can see a really strong signal of the effects of climate change.

“很难把个别事件归咎于气候变化。但我认为我们可以看到气候变化影响的一个非常强烈的信号。 

So, with Venice, for example, we know that sea level is rising because of increasing temperatures. Warm water, ocean water is expanding. Sea levels are going up.

所以，以威尼斯为例，我们知道海平面上升是因为温度升高。温水，海水正在膨胀。海平面在上升。

So, we know that the risk of coastal flooding and coastal areas, particularly around Venice as at the moment. And it’s increasing.”

所以，我们知道沿海地区和沿海洪水的风险，特别是目前威尼斯周边地区。而且还在增加。” 

16,000 kilometers away, the skyscrapers of Sydney were shrouded in smoke Tuesday as nearby bush fires raged out of control in Australia’s state of New South Wales.

16000公里外，因澳大利亚新南威尔士州附近的灌木丛大火失控，悉尼摩天大楼周二被浓烟笼罩。 

Over five hundred homes have been destroyed and four people have been killed.

500多所房屋被毁，4人丧生。 

“The sort of conditions that enable wildfire faster to really get going are increasing with climate change.

“随着气候的变化，使野火更快地真正开始蔓延的条件越来越多。 

Temperature is increasing, then when it’s dry, the air becomes even drier as temperatures increase because the humidity goes down.

随着温度的升高，当天气干燥时，随着温度的升高，由于湿度的降低，空气变得更加干燥。 

So, the conditions that are ripe for wildfire are becoming more and more common.”

因此，发生野火的条件越来越普遍。” 

Australia’s Conservative government has criticized those linking the fires to climate change

澳大利亚保守党政府批评那些将火灾与气候变化联系在一起的人， 

as the ravings of some pure enlightened and woke capital city greenies, prompting anger from opponents.

认为这是一些纯粹开悟、觉醒的首都环保人士的胡言乱语，这激起了反对者的愤怒。 

“This government has had every opportunity to minimize the risk of these catastrophic fires and instead it has chosen to pour fuel on the fire.”

“本届政府本来有一切机会将这些灾难性火灾的风险控制到最低，相反，它选择了向火灾中注入燃料。”

As with preceding years, 2019 has seen climate records broken with startling results.

与前几年一样，2019年的气候打破了记录，结果令人吃惊。 

Scientists warn the world is moving far too slowly to tackle climate change, so disasters like this are becoming more common across the globe.

科学家警告说，全球应对气候变化的步伐太慢，所以像这样的灾难在全球范围内变得越来越普遍。