Unlocking the Climate Puzzle
解开气候之谜
(1)Life has prospered on this planet for nearly four billion years. In that time, climate had fluctuated drastically, from ice ages lasting tens of thousands of years to epochs
草莓英文
of steamy heat. With each change, sundry species have benefited and flourished. Others adapted, faltered, or died. Now, many experts believe, humans are imperiling their own ecological niche with the threat of global warming. The vaporous
by-products of civilization, in the form of greenhou gas such as carbon dioxide (C0₂), have trapped enough heat in the atmosphere to rai Earth's average surface air temperature a half degree Celsius (one degree Fahrenheit) during this century. If the trend continues, it could alter climate patterns worldwide-thawing glaciers, boosting a level, scorching plains into derts, and shifting vegetation zones.
（1）生命在这个星球上已经发展了近四十亿年。在这段时间里，气候有大幅波动，从冰河时代到蒸汽时代延续了几千年。每一次改变，各种物种受益和繁荣。其他适应，步履蹒跚，或死亡。现在，许多专家
认为，人类正在通过全球变暖危及自己的生态位。在本世纪，文明的气态副产物，以二氧化碳（C0₂）等温室气体的形式，把足够的热量困在大气中，来提高地球表面平均气温半摄氏度（1华氏度）。如果这种趋势继续下去，它可能会改变世界范围内的气候模式—融化冰川，提高海平面，把平原烤成沙漠，以及改变植被区。
(2) Or it might not. Global climate depends on combinations of factors interacting in subtle and complex ways that we do not yet fully understand. It is possible that the warming obrved during this century may have resulted from natural variations, even though the increa has been much more rapid than what the planet has witnesd over the past hundred centuries. Moreover, the supercomputer simulations ud to project future conditions may not be accurate.
（2）或者不可能。全球气候取决于各种因素的组合，这些因素以微妙和复杂的方式相互作用，我们还没有完全了解。这是可能的，在本世纪中观察到的变暖可能是由于自然的变化，即使增加已远远超过这个星球在过去的几百个世纪已经见证过的。此外，用于展现未来条件的超级计算机模拟可能是不准确的。
appearing(3) Nonetheless, in 1995, after years of inten study, the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), sponsored by the United Nations, concluded tentatively that "the balance of
evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate". The amount of that influence, the group noted, is unknown becau of "uncertainties in key factors", including the degree to which clouds and the oceans affect the rate of temperature change. It may take a decade or more of additional rearch to resolve tho uncertainties.
（3）然而，由联合国发起的政府间气候变化专门委员会，经过数年集中的研究，在1995年，初步得到了“对照所有证据表明，人类对全球气候有明显的影响”这个结论。该委员会同时提到，由于“关键因素的不确定性”，包括云层和海洋对温度变化率的影响程度，人类对全球气候的影响量是未知的。解决这些不确定因素可能需要十年乃至更长时间的额外研究。
(4) Meanwhile, much is known. And although the specific conquences of human activity remain ambiguous, our ability to alter the atmosphere is incontestable.
（4）同时，大多是已知的。尽管人类活动的具体后果仍不明确，我们改变大气的能力是不可否认的。rosta
四月英语怎么说
(5) What caus climate change? Weather is what happens outside your home this morning. Climate is what you can expect to happen outside during your 30-year mortgage. Over time small changes can make a big difference. Driven by tremendous flows of heat over the surface of the plan
et, Earth's climate system is influenced by innumerable interacting variables.
（5）是什么导致了气候变化？天气是这个早上出现在户外的自然现象。气候是在30年内可以预测的发生在户外的自然现象。随着时间的流逝，微小的变化会造成巨大的影响。由于星球表面上的巨大热流，无数相互作用的变量影响着地球的气候系统。
Solar Input
(6) Having traveled 93 million miles, solar energy hits the upper atmosphere at about the intensity of three 100-watt bulbs per square yard—one-third of which is reflected back into space. The rest of the energy warms Earth and fuels its weather engine.
太阳能输入
（6）已经走了9300万英里，太阳能达到高层大气时，每平方的强度大约是3
个100瓦灯泡—其中三分之一被反射回太空。其余的能量使地球变暖，并引起天气改变。
cylinders
The Atmosphere
(7) A delicate balance of gas gives Earth an average temperature of 15℃(59℉). Greenhou gas一water vapor, C0₂, methane, nitrous oxide, and others一absorb heat energy, then re-radiate a portion of it back to the surface.
大气
（7）气体的一种微妙平衡使地球平均温度为15℃（59℉）。温室气体一水汽，C0₂，甲烷，一氧化二氮，和其他气体一吸收热能，然后再辐射一部分返回地面。
The Oceans
(8) Covering 70 percent of Earth's surface, oceans are the chief source of water vapor in the air. Oceans store heat efficiently and transport it thousands of miles. When warm water collects in one place, evaporation and cloud buildup may increa. Marine organisms consume huge amounts of C0₂.高一英语周报答案网
海洋
（8）覆盖地球表面的百分之70，海洋是空气中的水蒸气的主要来源。海洋能有效地储存热能和把它运输数千英里。当温水聚集在一个地方，蒸发和云层积累可能会增加。海洋生物消耗大量的C0₂。
The Water Cycle
(9) Higher air temperatures can mean incread water evaporation and the meltingpython是什么意思
of a and land ice. Although water vapor is the most potent greenhou gas, evaporation also leads to cloud formation, which can have a cooling effect.
水循环
（9）更高的空气温度可以增加水的蒸发和融化海洋和陆地的冰。虽然水蒸气是最有效的温室气体，蒸发也导致云的形成，它可以有一个冷却效果。
Clouds
(10) The role of clouds is poorly understood, but they are known to both cool Earth by reflecting solar energy and warm Earth by trapping heat being radiated up from the surface.
云层
（10）人类对云层的作用了解很少，但是知道它们会通过反射太阳能使地面温度下降，且通过储存地表散发的热量使地面温度上升。
Ice and Snow
(11) Bright white expans of ice and snow reflect sunlight back into space, cooling the planet. Melting a ice draws heat from the ocean. In the Northern Hemisphere, snow cover has decread about 10 percent in the past 21 years, but no significant melting of the Antarctic ice sheet has been detected.
冰和雪
（11）广阔区域的明亮白色的冰和雪把阳光反射回太空，使地球冷却。融化的海冰从海洋中吸取热量。在北半球，雪覆盖在过去的21年中减少了约百分之10，但没有明显的南极冰盖的融化已经被检测到。
Land Surface
(12) When solar energy penetrates the land surface, it is converted into heat, most of which radiates upward quickly. Still, topography and land u can have major effects on climate. Mountain ranges can block clouds, creating dry "shadows" downwind. Sloping land allows more water runoff, leaving the land and air drier. A tropical forest will soak up C0₂，but once cleared for cattle ranching, the same land becomes a source of methane.
voyage是什么意思（12）当太阳能渗入地表时，会转化为热能，其中大部分会很快上升散发到空气中。地形和土地使用仍然对气候有主要的影响。在下风口，山脉会挡住云层，形成缺乏雨水的“阴影地”。坡地让更多的水分流失，使得土地和空气更加干燥。热带森林会吸收二氧化碳，但是一旦允许牲畜农场经营，这块土地将会产生大量的甲烷。
Human Influences
(13) Adding to the mix of greenhou gas naturally prent in the atmosphere, human activities magnify warming effects. Fuel combustion is the chief cau of rising C0₂ concentrations. Ranching, rice farming, and landfills have raid methane levels. Aerosols, such as smoke and sulfates from industry, reflect sunlight and have temporary, localized cooling effects.
人类的影响
（13）增加在大气中自然存在的温室气体的混合，人类活动放大变暖的影响。燃料燃烧是C0₂浓度上升的一个主要原因。牧场，水稻种植，和垃圾填埋场已经提高甲烷的程度。悬浮颗粒，如来自工业的烟尘和硫酸盐，能反射阳光，有暂时的、局部的冷却效果。
brother in law
(14) If C0₂ emission increas are to blame for global warming, skeptics say, then temperatures sho
uld have rin appreciably during the postwar economic boom, when fossil fuels were burned in escalating quantity. Jerry Mahlman, director of NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton, however, has calculated that the surge in coal and oil u quickly incread the amount of sulfates aloft, prompting the cooling. After 1970 the longer term effect of C0₂ and methane overwhelmed the short-lived aerosols, accounting for the temperature ri since then.
（14）质疑者们说，如果CO2的增加应该对全球变暖负责，那么在战后经济繁荣期间化石燃料被越来越多的燃烧时，温度应该很明显的增加。不管怎样，Jerry Mahlman，美国国家海洋和大气局位于普林斯顿关于地球物理流体动力学实验室的主任，曾计算过煤和油的使用量的激增会迅速增加空气中大量的硫酸盐，并促进它们冷却。从1970年后， CO2和甲烷覆盖了短期效应的气溶胶从而带来的长期效应，导致了温度的上升。
pep小学英语四年级上册教案(15) An enhanced greenhou effect may not necessarily be catastrophic. Indeed, it might be good news for some farmers. High concentrations of C0₂ can have a fertilizing effect on plants, which is why some commercial greenhous u an artificial indoor atmosphere containing C0₂ at about three times the level outside. Becau plants u photosynthesis to turn C0₂ into living tissue, more vegetation also might mean more C0₂ scavenged from the atmosphere, perhaps slowing global
