VOA慢速英语2015 美国国家航空航天局保持关注地球的健康

 

NASA Keeping Watch on the Earth’s Health 美国国家航空航天局保持关注地球的健康

The past year has been the busiest 12-month period for the American space agency in more than 10 years.

The National Aeronautics¹ and Space Administration, NASA, launched three missions in 2014. It began a fourth project earlier this month. A fifth launch is set for this Thursday, January 29.

But the instruments sent into Earth’s orbit are not searching the skies for distant stars or planets. They are instead examining how the Earth is reacting to rising temperatures -- something known as global warming or climate change.

After the launch this week, NASA will have 18 instruments in Earth’s orbit examining our planet.

Last February, NASA launched GPM, or the Global Precipitation Measurement mission. NASA’s Tom Wagner is an Earth scientist.

“What that’s going to do is improve our understanding of precipitation. It'll be able to measure how much snow is in the atmosphere. And that'll overall improve our understanding of rainfall.”

GPM was followed by the Orbiting Carbon Observatory² project, also known as OCO-2. Tom Wagner says this mission is important because carbon dioxide, or CO-2, emissions³ are a main reason the planet is warming.

“One of the most important things with carbon dioxide is we need to know where it's coming from, but we need to know where it goes. Does it get taken up by the ocean, for example. Is it being released by (the) thawing⁴ of the Arctic? And, if we wanna figure out where the planet's gonna be, say in 50 or 100 years, those are the kinds of processes we need to understand.”   

Also last year, two instruments were placed on the International Space Station.

“It’s the first time we’re putting instruments on the Space Station to look down at Earth. The space station represents this incredible platform because it has things like a lot of power.”

One instrument is called RapidScat. It measures how fast winds are moving on the surface of the ocean. Scientists can use that information to improve their knowledge of the climate and make better weather predictions. The second instrument is known as the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System or CATS. Mr. Wagner says it will use lasers to learn about the links between pollution and cloud formation.

This week, NASA plans to launch SMAP -- or Soil Moisture Active Passive. It will examine the water cycle, which is important to life on Earth. Mr. Wagner says SMAP will work with other instruments to study the health of our planet.

“And, the simple fact is this: The Earth is all interconnected. And, if you wanna understand it, you need to make measurements all over the place, all the time, so you can get a total picture of what’s going on. And satellite is one of the best ways to do that.”

He says the stored information from satellites can help weather experts make better predictions. He says it can also help farmers and ocean and land managers make better decisions as they react to global warming.

Words in This Story

precipitation – n. water that falls to the ground as rain or snow

carbon dioxide – n. a gas that is produced when people and animals breathe out or when certain fuels are burned and that is used by plants for energy

emissions – n. something sent out or given off; the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas) from a source

taken up by – idiomatic⁵ absorbed; to take in (something, such as a liquid) in a natural or gradual way

thaw(ing) – v. to become warm enough that snow and ice melt

platform – n. a place on which an instrument or tool can be mounted or placed

interconnected – adj. having the quality of being connected with something else

1 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

2 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

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 thawing   

n.熔化，融化v.（气候）解冻( thaw的现在分词 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化

参考例句：

• The ice is thawing. 冰在融化。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• It had been snowing and thawing and the streets were sloppy. 天一直在下雪，雪又一直在融化，街上泥泞不堪。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。