VOA新闻杂志2022--活动家致力于用植物为城市社区降温

Communities Work to Cool City Neighborhoods with Plants

Reggie Carrillo is an environmental activist¹ who lives in the Southwestern U.S. city of Phoenix², Arizona.

He recently told the Associated Press that climate change affects the temperatures of city neighborhoods.

"To understand climate change, to understand the urban heat island effect, you have to understand the history," said Carrillo. He wants to share his knowledge with his neighbors to cool his community.

In Phoenix, some neighborhoods do not have many trees and open spaces. Some reports say temperatures are as much as seven degrees Celsius³ higher than in other areas of Phoenix with more trees. Those parts of the city were built with mostly roads and buildings but not much green space. That has helped create what Carrillo and others call an "urban heat island."

Carrillo has learned⁴ about the city's history by attending the Urban Heat Leadership Academy⁵ that is run by groups trying to conserve⁶ natural resources. They are working to add green space to parts of Phoenix that have not received attention.

The Nature Conservancy is providing some of the money. The international group is known for projects that protect natural areas. But it is now getting involved in cities like Phoenix and Atlanta, Georgia by planting trees and building community gardens.

The academy holds classes by video link on Saturday mornings. It helps teach people like Carrillo about why their living areas are so hot. It also teaches them how to organize activities that will help cool things down. They discuss air and water quality and how to push for better treatment of parts of the city where minorities live.

Phoenix is in the Sonoran Desert in the American Southwest. But other parts of the country known for cooler temperatures – such as Seattle, Washington – are also reporting high temperatures.

Other parts of the U.S. are seeing a wider range of temperatures. For example, Philadelphia winters can be well below zero Celsius. But the city also has hot summers.

A group called Trust for Public Land is working in Philadelphia in the same way as the group in Phoenix. The group is making public art to teach people about climate change and is giving out small trees for people to plant.

Owen Franklin leads the Trust for Public Land in Pennsylvania. He said the project in Philadelphia is making people think about why some parts of the city experience temperatures up to 11 degrees Celsius hotter than others.

He has talked with people who live in those hot neighborhoods. He said people who live in poor parts of the city often sleep with their windows closed on hot nights because they are worried about crime. Franklin said "the rest of us need to know what people experience" so organizations such as his can "combat⁷ the problem."

In Phoenix, Carrillo is working with others who went to the Urban Heat Leadership Academy. They want to build a walking area that will be known as a "cool corridor⁸," a place that has local plants that can help reduce temperatures. He also is organizing events to talk to people and to learn what they want.

Anna Bettis works⁹ with The Nature Conservancy in Arizona. She said the first class last year had about 40 people. It discussed the science of how plants can cool living areas.

"We are trying to help people work on solutions that will cool down their neighborhoods over the long term," she said. Bettis talked about shade, or the area of darkness created when something blocks the sun. She said, "...you can see how unequally it is distributed in some neighborhoods."

Summer temperatures in Phoenix can be dangerous. One day last summer, the high was over 46 degrees Celsius. In the last year, the heat was blamed for over 300 deaths.

Other people in Phoenix are working with Carrillo on ways to reduce the heat. He talked with students from a design class at nearby Arizona State University during an event at a school for young children.

One of the school teachers was Teresa Silva. She said many of the students walk a long distance without shade in order to get to class. The temperature can be 37 degrees, she said. The parents of most students have more than one job and do not have the time to drive them to school.

Curtis Merritt is planting trees in another part of Phoenix. He is another graduate of the academy, like Carrillo. Merritt said many people have trouble getting enough food each day. So he is planting fruit trees – figs¹⁰, apples, and oranges.

"What's great about this project is that I not only get to help cool down my neighborhood by teaching¹¹...," said Merritt. "Someday with those trees I'll be able to feed my neighbors, too."

Words in This Story

urban –adj. related¹² to cities

conserve –v. to keep something from being damaged or destroyed

minority –adj. a group of people who are different from the larger group of people in an area or country for reasons such as race or religion

range –n. a series of numbers that include the highest and lowest of values in the series

combat –v. to fight

corridor –n. a narrow piece of land

distribute –v. to spread

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

3 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 academy   

n.(高等)专科院校；学术社团，协会，研究院

参考例句：

• This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
• I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。

6 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

7 combat   

n.战斗，斗争，格斗；vt.与...斗争，与...战斗

参考例句：

• The police are now using computers to help combat crime.警方现在使用电脑打击犯罪活动。
• A reporter interviewed the combat hero.记者访问了这位战斗英雄。

8 corridor   

n.走廊，回廊，通路

参考例句：

• The corridor opens into Mr.Brown's office.这条走廊通到布朗先生的办公室。
• There was a ring of laughter in the corridor.走廊里传来响亮的笑声。

9 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

10 figs   

figures 数字，图形，外形

参考例句：

• The effect of ring dyeing is shown in Figs 10 and 11. 环形染色的影响如图10和图11所示。
• The results in Figs. 4 and 5 show the excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. 图4和图5的结果都表明模拟和实验是相当吻合的。

11 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

12 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。