本集内容

Extreme weather and climate change 极端天气和气候变化

学习要点

有关 “heat（高温）” 的词汇

边看边答

By what amount does the Paris Climate Agreement aim to limit the rise in global temperature?

文字稿

Temperatures were among the highest in the UK [today] here at Kew Gardens [in London]. A scorching 37.7 degrees [Celsius]. So those who braved the sunshine came prepared. And climate scientists are now confident that heatwaves are more likely and more extreme because of climate change.

今天（7 月 25 日），伦敦邱园的气温是全英国最高的。灼热的气温高达 37.7 摄氏度。迎接阳光的勇者们都准备好了。气候科学家现在可以肯定地说，高温热浪天气更有可能发生，来势也更凶猛。

Professor Liz Bentley, Chief Executive, Royal Meteorological Society
The fact that we've seen these temperature rises, the baseline temperature has increased by about one degree globally since pre-industrial times and it's that level that just means… in normal conditions we’d see heatwave conditions and temperatures around kind of just above average, but you add that extra layer of heat on, that's when we start to break those records.

莉兹·本特利教授 英国皇家气象学会首席执行官
“事实上，我们看到了温度上升，全球基准温度自前工业化时代以来已经上升了大约一度，这就意味着在正常情况下，热浪天气和气温略高于平均水平，但如果加上额外的热量，气温就会打破历史记录。”

And globally over the last century the trend is clear - it has been heating up. The last four years were the warmest ever recorded. For the future, the temperature increase depends on global carbon emissions.

在过去的一个世纪里，在全球范围内明显可见的趋势是气候不断升温。过去四年是有记录以来最热的四年。未来气温上升将取决于全球的碳排放量。

Current targets that governments have signed up to to limit those emissions will see a rise of about 3.3 degrees by 2100. Under the Paris Climate Agreement - that's the more ambitious deal signed up to by almost 200 countries in 2016 - the aim is to keep that below 1.5 degrees.

各国政府已签署限制温室气体排放的协议，当前的目标是，到 2100 年，将升温幅度控制在 3.3 摄氏度以内。根据《巴黎协定》 —— 这是近 200 个国家在 2016 年签署的更富有雄心的协议，目标是将气温升高控制在 1.5 摄氏度以内。

Today of all days we've come to the hottest glasshouse in Kew Gardens [because] this is where all the desert-adapted plants live. And even for these plants they've opened all of the windows to try and get some ventilation in here, because according to my thermometer it is now more than 39 degrees in here. And these plants are adapted to the hottest, driest conditions on Earth.

在今天这个高温天，我们来到了邱园中温度最高的温室，因为所有沙漠植物都生活在这里。即便对于这些植物，工作人员也打开了所有的窗户，试图让这里通风，因为根据我的温度计显示，现在这里的温度已经超过了 39 度。这些植物适应在地球上最炎热、最干燥的环境中生存。

It's those adaptations that scientists here are studying in order to work out how we might grow more drought-resistant plants in the future. While the collections here look exotic, they contain plants that could eventually become familiar food crops.

科学家们正在研究这些适应性，以找出未来我们如何种植更多抗旱植物的方法。虽然这里的植物看起来很奇特，但它们中有一些最终可能成为常见的粮食作物。

With the gardens baking in the Sun, the preparation continues for a warmer, more uncertain climate in the future.

看着邱园的花园在阳光下烘烤，我们为未来更加温暖、更不确定的气候继续做准备。

词汇

scorching 灼热的

heatwaves 热浪

heating up 升温

drought-resistant 抗旱的

baking 被高温烘烤

问题答案

Under the Paris Climate Agreement the aim is to keep the rise in global temperature below 1.5 degrees.