高中英語(yǔ)選修六課文翻譯

1、精選優(yōu)質(zhì)文檔-傾情為你奉上高中英語(yǔ)選修六課文翻譯Unit 4 THE EARTH IS BECOMIG WARMER-BUT DOES IT MATTER?全球在變暖會(huì)帶來(lái)什么影響嗎？During the 20th century the temperature of the earth rose about one degreeFahrenheit. That probably does not seem much to you or me, but it is a rapid increasewhen compared to other natural changes. So how ha

2、s this come about and does it matter?Earth cares Sophie Armstrong explores these questions. There is no doubt that the earth is becoming warmer(see Graph 1) and that it is human activity that has caused this global warmig rather than a random but natural phenomenon.All scientists subscribe to the vi

3、ew that the increase in the earths temperature is due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil to produce energy. Somebyproducts of this process are called “greenhouse” gases, the most important one ofwhich is carbon dioxide. Dr Janice Foster explains: “There is a natural phenom

4、enon that scientists call the “greenhouse effect”.This is when small amounts of gases in theatmosphere, like carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour, trap heat from the sun andtherefore warm the earth. Without thegreenhouse effect the earth would be about thirtythree degrees Celsciu cooler than it

5、is. So, we need those gases. The problem begins when we add huge quantities of extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It means that more heat energy tends to be trapped in the atmosphere causing the global temperature to go up.We know that the levels of carbon dioxide have increased greatly over

6、the last 100 to 150 years. It was a scientist called Charles Keeling, who made accurate measurements of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 1957 to 1997. He found that between these years the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere went up from around 315 parts to around 370 parts per milli

7、on(see Graph 2) All scientists accept this data. They also agree that it is the burning of more and more fossil fuels that has resulted in this increase in carbon dioxide. So how high will the temperature increase go? Dr Janice Foster says that over the next 100 years the amount of warming could be

8、as low as 1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but it could be as high as 5 degrees.However, the attitude of scientists towards this rise in completely different. On the one hand, Dr Foster thinks that the trend which increases the temperature by 5 degrees would be a catastrophe. She says, “ We cant predict th

9、e climate well enough to know what to expect, but it could be very serious.” Others who agree with her think there may be a rise of several metres in the sea level, or predict severe storms, floods, droughts, famines, the spread of diseases and the disappearance of species. On the other hand, there

10、are those, like George Hambley, who are opposed to this view, believe that we should not worry about high levels of carbon dioxide in the air. They predict that any warming will be mild with few bad environmental consequences. In fact, Hambley states, “More carbon dioxide is actually a positive thin

11、g. It will make plants grow quicker; crops will produce more; it will encourage a greater range of animals-all of which will make life for human beings better.”Greenhouse gases continue to build up in the atmosphere. Even if we start reducingthe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, t

12、he climate is going to keep on warming for decades or centuries. No one knows the effects of global warming. Does that mean we should do nothing? Or, are the risks too great?在20世紀(jì)期間，地球溫度大約上升了華氏1度。這個(gè)數(shù)值對(duì)你我來(lái)說(shuō)很可能是無(wú)所謂的，但是跟其他自然變化相比較而言，這卻是一種快速的增長(zhǎng)。那么，他是怎么產(chǎn)生的呢?會(huì)產(chǎn)生什么影響呢？“關(guān)愛(ài)地球”組織的索菲、阿姆斯特朗就在探究這些問(wèn)題。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，地球是在變暖（見(jiàn)

13、表一），正式人類的活動(dòng)導(dǎo)致了地球變暖二不是一種任意的自然現(xiàn)象。 所有的科學(xué)家都同意這種觀點(diǎn)：人們?yōu)榱松a(chǎn)能量而燃燒化石燃料（如煤、天然氣和石油等），從而引起了全球溫度的升高。在這個(gè)升溫過(guò)程中所產(chǎn)生的一些副產(chǎn)品就叫做“溫室氣體”，其中最重要的就是二氧化碳。賈尼斯福斯特博士解釋說(shuō)：“有一種科學(xué)家稱之為溫室效應(yīng)的自然現(xiàn)象。這種現(xiàn)象發(fā)生在大氣層中少量的氣體（如二氧化碳、甲烷、水蒸氣等）吸收太陽(yáng)的能量，從而使地球變暖的時(shí)候。如果沒(méi)有這種溫室效應(yīng)，地球的溫度將比現(xiàn)在的溫度還要低大約33攝氏度。因此，我們需要這些氣體。但我們?cè)诖髿鈱又性黾恿舜罅款~外的二氧化碳是，問(wèn)題就來(lái)了。這意味這更多的能量被困在大氣層中，

14、從而引起全球溫度升高。"我們知道,在過(guò)去年期間,二氧化碳的含量急劇增加了。有一位名叫查爾斯?基林的科學(xué)家曾經(jīng)把年期間大氣層中二氧化碳的含量作了精確的統(tǒng)計(jì)。他發(fā)現(xiàn),在這些年里,大氣層中的二氧化碳含量從上升到所有科學(xué)家都接受這個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)。他們還贊同下述觀點(diǎn),正是由于越來(lái)越多燃燒化石燃料導(dǎo)致了二氧化碳的增加。那么氣溫會(huì)升到多高福斯特博士說(shuō),在今后的年里,全球變暖的量可能低到攝氏度,但是也有可能高達(dá)攝氏度。然而,科學(xué)家們?cè)趯?duì)待升溫的態(tài)度上卻是大不相同的。一方面,福斯特博士認(rèn)為氣溫升高度的趨勢(shì)可能是一場(chǎng)大災(zāi)難,她說(shuō)對(duì)于未來(lái)的氣候,我們不可能作出精確的預(yù)測(cè),但是那時(shí)的天氣可能是很糟糕的。同意她的觀點(diǎn)的其他科學(xué)家認(rèn)為,全球變暖會(huì)導(dǎo)致海平面上升好幾米:也有人預(yù)言會(huì)出現(xiàn)嚴(yán)重的風(fēng)暴、洪澇、干旱、饑荒、疫病和物種的絕滅。在另一方面,還有一些人,像科學(xué)家喬治?漢布利,反對(duì)上面的觀點(diǎn),他們認(rèn)為我們不必?fù)?dān)心空氣中會(huì)有高含量的二氧化碳。他