VOA慢速英语2020 墨西哥城空气质量并未因疫情改善（在线收听）

Stay-at-home Order Does Not Bring Down Mexico City’s Pollution

Government orders for people to stay home to halt the spread of the coronavirus have resulted in a sharp decrease of vehicle traffic around the world.

政府下令要求人们居家防止冠状病毒传播，导致全球的交通锐减。这导致了全球交通流量的急剧下降。

Cities such as Delhi, India, Los Angeles in the United States and Seoul in South Korea all have reported better air quality. But that is not the case with Mexico's capital, although its traffic has decreased by 60 percent.

印度德里、美国洛杉矶和韩国首尔等城市的空气质量均有所改善。但墨西哥首都的空气质量却没有改善，尽管其交通流量已经减少了60%。

The official website of Mexico City says that air quality there is "poor." It warns that exercising at certain times of the day presents a "high" to "very high" health risk. Photographs taken by Reuters last week show a thick haze over the city.

墨西哥城的官方网站称，当地的空气质量“很差”。它警告说，每天在特定时间锻炼会面临“高”甚至“非常高”的健康风险。路透社上周拍摄的照片显示，城市上空笼罩着厚厚的雾霾。

Mexico City is about 2240 meters above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. The city and the area around it is home to more than 20 million people.

墨西哥城海拔约2240米，被群山环绕。这座城市及其周边地区居住着2000多万人口。

Most are staying inside their homes, but they have increased the use of gas and other fuels possibly for cooking. Methane gas is released from open-air waste holding areas. In addition, a lot of industrial activity continues. All these things have cancelled the reduction in pollution that was expected from putting the economy on hold.

虽然大多数人都闭门不出，但他们使用燃气和其他燃料烹饪的频率增加。露天的垃圾存放区不断释放出甲烷气体。此外，许多工业活动仍在继续。所有的这些因素都抵消了因经济停滞而减少的污染。

Sergio Hernandez oversees air quality in the city. He told Reuters news agency, "We're seeing that it's come down form the peaks, but it's not enough to bring the air quality below the norm."

塞尔吉奥·赫尔南德斯(Sergio Hernandez)监督该市的空气质量。他告诉路透社，“我们看到空气污染已经从峰值下降，但这还不足以使其低于正常水平。”

Carlos Alvarez is head of Mexico Communication and Environment, an environmental group. He said that there are 400 open-air waste holding areas, or dumps. They release methane gas.

卡洛斯·阿尔瓦雷兹（Carlos Alvarez）是环保组织“墨西哥通信与环境”的负责人。他说，有400个露天垃圾存放区（垃圾厂），不断释放甲烷气体。

There also are 50,000 industrial generators in the city. The generators provide electricity to hotels, offices and businesses. Most are still operating. The generators use gasoline or diesel fuel, as do the 350,000 trucks and buses that operate in the area.

该市还有5万台工业发电机。这些发电机为宾馆、办公室和企业提供电力。大多数发电机仍然在运行。这些发电机以及该地区运营的35万辆卡车和公交都在使用汽油或柴油。

Environmental experts say diesel is a leading cause of harmful pollution. Other causes include the state oil company Pemex's oil processing center in the north, forest fires and ash from the volcano Popocatepetl to the southeast.

环境专家指出，柴油是造成有害污染的主要原因。其他原因还包括国有石油公司墨西哥国家石油公司(Pemex)位于北部的石油加工中心、森林火灾以及东南部的波波卡特佩特火山喷发的火山灰。

The air quality in Mexico City is better than it was when the World Health Organization said it was the world's most polluted city in 1992. But, it is still poor. Bad air quality is linked to high rates of diseases that affect the lungs. Experts warn that COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, could be more dangerous in Mexico City than in other places.

墨西哥城的空气质量较1992年已有所改善，当时世界卫生组织称其为世界上污染最严重的城市。但是，现在的空气质量仍然堪忧。糟糕的空气质量与影响肺部的疾病高发率有关。专家警告称，由新型冠状病毒引起的新冠肺炎在墨西哥城可能比在其他地方更危险。

Roxana Trejo takes care of patients infected with the coronavirus at the ABC medical center in Mexico City. "(Pollution) can be a serious issue once you get the disease," she said.

洛克珊娜·特雷霍（Roxana Trejo）在墨西哥城的ABC医疗中心照顾感染冠状病毒的病人。她说：“一旦感染这一疾病，那么（污染）就会成为一个严重的问题。”

I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.