美国有线新闻 CNN 撒哈拉沙漠在过去100年里扩张10%（在线收听）

Which of these deserts got its name from a word meaning desert? Namib Desert, Chihuahuan Desert, Sahara Desert or Kalahari Desert. In Arabic, the word Sahara means desert.

以下哪个沙漠的名字来源于“沙漠”一词？纳米布沙漠、奇瓦瓦沙漠、撒哈拉沙漠还是卡拉哈里沙漠？在阿拉伯语中，“撒哈拉”一词的意思是沙漠。

Outside of Antarctica in the Artic, the Sahara is the biggest warm weather desert on the planet. It's about the size of the United States and there's debate in the scientific community about whether the Sahara is growing. Some experts say the desert has expanded over the past 100 years by as much as 10 percent. Others say its area naturally fluctuates depending on the amount of rainfall at its borders and that a drought in the late 20th century only made it look like the Sahara had grown.

除南极和北极之外，撒哈拉沙漠是地球上最大的温暖气候沙漠。撒哈拉沙漠的面积差不多与美国本土一样大，科学界对其是否在扩大存在争议。一些专家表示，这片沙漠在过去100年扩大了10%。其他人则表示，其面积的自然波动取决于其边界的降雨量，20世纪末的一场干旱使撒哈拉沙漠看起来像是扩张了。

There's also debate over whether the Great Green Wall, a massive tree planting project across North Africa has been working. It's progress since 2007 has been slow and critics say that natural weather patterns and bad farming practices are more to blame for desertification than the Sahara itself. Regardless of what's happening with the desert though, the Great Green Wall Project continues to grow. It received $14 million in funding earlier this year to continue its efforts.

另一个争论是，横跨北非的大规模植树工程“绿色长城”是否起到了作用。自2007年以来，该项目一直进展缓慢，批评人士表示，相比撒哈拉沙漠本身，沙漠化更应归咎于自然气候模式和恶劣的耕作方式。无论该沙漠之后如何发展，“绿色长城”工程仍在继续进行。今年早些时候，该项目获得了1400万美元的资金，以供其开展工作。