VOA慢速英语--美国野火烟雾给数百万人带来健康问题

US Wildfire Smoke Causes Health Problems for Millions

Thick clouds of smoke from wildfires in the United States have exposed millions of people to harmful levels of pollution. The smoke is causing emergency room visits to jump and may have led to the death of thousands of older and sick people. That information comes from a study of pollution records by The Associated Press, or AP news agency.

The AP also spoke¹ with doctors, health officials and researchers about conditions on the U.S. West Coast.

For at least one day, smoke from the wildfires topped concentration levels that the government says increase health risks. In recent weeks, the smoke has covered areas where more than 8 million people live, the news agency said.

The state of Oregon has been hit especially hard by the wildfires. Last month, Oregon's major cities suffered the highest pollution they have ever recorded. Powerful winds worsened fires that had been burning in remote areas and sent them toward the city of Portland.

Medical problems began while communities were still covered in smoke. It led to hundreds of additional hospital emergency room visits each day in Oregon, state health officials say.

Barb² Trout³ is a 64-year-old retiree who lives south of Portland, in the Willamette Valley. The experience has been hard on her, she says. She was taken to the emergency room, or ER, two times after suffering severe asthmatic reactions. It is something that had never happened to her before.

Trout had sheltered inside her home as soon as smoke rolled into the Willamette Valley early last month. But within days, she had an asthma⁴ attack that left her struggling for air and landed her in the ER. Two weeks later, smoke from fires in California moved into the valley. That is when she had what she thinks was a near-death experience.

"It hit me quick and hard – more so than the first one. I wasn't hardly even breathing," Trout told The AP. After getting treatment, she was sent home. But the chance of a third attack worries her, so she and her husband put in a warning system. With it, she can press a button to call for help.

Martin Johnson is Trout's doctor and a heart specialist. He lives in nearby Salem, Oregon. Johnson says people with existing breathing conditions started showing up at his hospital or calling his office right after the smoke arrived. Many were struggling to breathe. The Salem area had eight days of pollution at dangerous levels during a short period. These are some of the worst conditions the West has seen over the past 20 years, the AP study found.

Most of Johnson's patients are expected to recover, but some could have permanent loss of lung function, he said. Then there are the "hidden" victims. These are people who Johnson suspects died from heart attacks or other problems resulting from the poor air quality. But their causes of death are being listed as something else.

Stanford University researchers say up to 3,000 people in California, all over the age of 65, died earlier than expected after exposure to smoke for six weeks last summer. Their findings are based on earlier studies of pollution-related deaths and the number of people exposed to recent wildfires.

Hundreds more deaths could have happened in Washington state over weeks of bad air from the fires, say University of Washington researchers.

The findings for both states have not been reported in scientific publications. No such estimate was available for Oregon.

A California heat wave last week led to warnings of extreme fire danger. And electric companies turned off some power lines for safety reasons.

Wildfires happen each year in Western states. But over the years, they have gotten more intense and dangerous as a changing climate dries out forests and other plant life. Particles that are too small to see make the smoke a health risk. They can be breathed in and cause breathing problems.

On any day, western fires can make 10 times more particles than other sources including vehicles and factories, notes Shawn Urbanski. He is a smoke scientist with the U.S. Forest Service.

Fires across the West released more than a million tons of the particles in 2012, 2015 and 2017, and almost as much in 2018. That year, a wildfire in Paradise⁵, California killed 85 people and burned 14,000 houses. It created thick smoke that covered parts of Northern California for weeks.

This year, a combination of weather events made the smoke especially bad.

Smoke particles enter the lungs, get down deep, and irritate⁶ the lining⁷, said University of Montana professor Erin Landguth. They may also get into your blood, she said. "We're seeing the effects."

The coronavirus health crisis⁸ raises another set of worries: Research is linking higher air pollution with higher rates of infection and more severe symptoms, notes Gabriela Goldfarb of the Oregon Health Authority.

Climate experts say people on the West Coast and in the northern Rocky Mountains can expect more major smoke events in the future.

Words in This Story

expose - v. to leave (something) without covering or protection

concentration - n. the amount of a component⁹ in a given area or volume

remote - adj. far away

asthmatic - adj. relating to asthma, a lung disorder¹⁰ that causes periods of wheezing¹¹, coughing, and difficulty with breathing

button - n. a small part of a machine that you push to make the machine work

function - n. the special purpose or activity for which a thing exists or is used

source - n. the cause of something; someone or something that provides what is wanted or needed

ton - n. a measure of weight equal either to 2000 pounds (about 907 kilograms) (short ton) or 2240 pounds (about 1016 kilograms; long ton ) with the short ton being more frequently used in the United States and Canada

irritate - v. to make (someone) impatient, angry, or annoyed

symptom - n. a change in the body or mind which indicates that a disease is present

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 barb   

n.（鱼钩等的）倒钩，倒刺

参考例句：

• The barb of his wit made us wince.他那锋芒毕露的机智使我们退避三舍。
• A fish hook has a barb to prevent the fish from escaping after being hooked.鱼钩上都有一个倒钩以防上了钩的鱼逃走。

3 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

4 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

5 paradise   

n.伊甸乐园，天堂

参考例句：

• My house had a small backyard,the paradise of children.我那幢房子有一个小后院，那是孩子们玩耍的乐园。
• On a hot day a dip in the sea is sheer paradise.热天洗个海水澡是十分令人惬意的事。

6 irritate   

vt.使恼怒，使烦燥，使不适，使疼痛

参考例句：

• Don't irritate her,she's on a short fuse today.别惹她，她今天动不动就发火。
• These tight shoes irritate my toes.我的鞋太紧，夹痛我的脚趾。

7 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

8 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

9 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

10 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

11 wheezing   

v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的现在分词 )；哮鸣

参考例句：

• He was coughing and wheezing all night. 他整夜又咳嗽又喘。
• A barrel-organ was wheezing out an old tune. 一架手摇风琴正在呼哧呼哧地奏着一首古老的曲子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》