ENVIRONMENT REPORT - Wildfires Blamed For Climate

ENVIRONMENT REPORT– Wildfires Blamed For Climate

By George Grow

Broadcast: December 20, 2002

This is the VOA Special English Environment Report.

A new study has found that major forest fires can influence climate changes. The study showed that some
wildfires release¹ large amounts of carbon dioxide gas. Many scientists have blamed carbon dioxide and industrial
gases for rising temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere.

A team led by Susan Page of the University of Leicester in Britain organized the new study. Her team says large
amounts of carbon dioxide entered the atmosphere after the huge forest fires in Indonesia in nineteen-ninetyseven. The study says the forest fires were a major cause of the biggest increase in carbon dioxide levels since
record-keeping began in nineteen-fifty-seven.

The fires destroyed almost one-million hectares of forest land. The fires produced thick smoke across much of
Southeast Asia.

Farmers and developers in parts of Indonesia often start fires to clear land for development. Reports say the fires
in Indonesia were made worse by drier than normal weather.

Mizz Page’s team studied satellite images of a two-million-five-hundred-thousand hectare area of Borneo
island. The images were taken before and after the fires to study their effects.

Her team found that thirty-two percent of the land area had burned. Most of the affected² land was made of peat,
which is the remains³ of plants on the bottom of the forest. The study found that the peat burned to a level of
almost one-meter deep in some areas.

The scientists say the fires released⁴ as much as two-thousand-million tons of carbon dioxide into Earth’s
atmosphere. They say that is equal to as much as forty percent of the carbon dioxide released by burning coal, oil
and natural gas each year around the world. The scientists warned that the continued use of fires to clear land
would lead to more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere unless policies are changed.

The British publication⁵ Nature described the study. A separate study by an Australian research team in the
publication Global Biogeochemical Cycles confirmed the findings⁶.

Scientists with the United States National Center for Atmospheric⁷ Research wrote a commentary⁸ published with
the Nature study. They said serious events affecting small areas can have a major effect on the release of carbon
dioxide in the world.

This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by George Grow.

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1 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

5 publication   

n.出版，发行；出版；公布，发表

参考例句：

• They don't think this article is suitable for publication.他们认为这篇文章不宜发表。
• The government has delayed publication of the trade figures.政府已将贸易统计数字延后公布。

6 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

7 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

8 commentary   

n.评论，评注；实况广播报导，现场口头评述

参考例句：

• He is giving the commentary on the basketball game.他正在对篮球赛作评论。
• His running commentary on the football match was excellent.他对这次足球赛所作的实况报道十分精彩。