Climate change and the Midwest

中西部的溫度變化

Soaked and less skeptical

已被浸透，不必懷疑

HARDIN, ILLINOIS

伊利諾斯州，哈丁

Floods and storms are altering inland America’s attitude to climate change

洪水和風暴正在改變美國內陸地區(qū)對氣候變化的態(tài)度

FOUR GENERATIONS of one family run Riverdock Restaurant in Hardin, a small town on a spit of wooded land between the swollen Illinois and Mississippi rivers. The matriarch is Sara Heffington, in red T-shirt and jeans. She says the Illinois river usually passes 400 feet (120 metres) from the long, ground-floor room where they serve biscuits and sausage gravy. Today water laps at the front door. She recalls a previous deluge, as they prepared to open in 1993. Back then, a levee broke and neck-high, muddy water submerged them. “That was a one-in-500-year flood,” she says.

一家四代人在哈丁經(jīng)營著Riverdock餐廳。哈丁是一個小鎮(zhèn)，坐落在廣大的伊利諾斯州和密西西比河之間的一處林地上。女族長是薩拉·赫芬頓，穿著紅色t恤和牛仔褲。她說，伊利諾斯河通常要橫跨400英尺(120米)，從他們提供餅干和香腸肉汁的一樓長房間穿過。今天，水拍打著前門。她回憶起之前的一次洪水，當時他們正準備1993年開業(yè)。當時，一座堤壩決堤，齊頸高的渾水淹沒了他們。“那是500年一遇的洪水，”她說。

詞匯

Swollen/腫脹的，浮腫的；

Illinois/伊利諾斯州

Matriarch/女家長；女統(tǒng)治者

Biscuit/ ?餅干；小面包

gravy/肉汁

lap/重疊；輕拍

deluge/洪水；泛濫；暴雨

In years when lots of snow melts upstream or increasingly stormy spring rain overfills midwestern rivers, the Heffingtons get gravel from a nearby quarry, fill bags and build a defensive wall. At the moment an oozing white barrier again surrounds their restaurant as diesel-pumps spit defiant jets back towards the river.

多年來，當上游大量積雪融化，或者中西部河流被越來越多的猛烈的春雨弄得滿溢時，赫芬頓一家就從附近的采石場獲得碎石，填滿袋子，筑起一道防御墻。與此同時，他們一家還用一個滲透型的白色屏障包圍著他們的參觀，靠著柴油泵機將滲入的水猛烈的沖擊回河中。

詞匯

Stormy/暴風雨的；猛烈的

Gravel/碎石；砂礫

Quarry/采石場

Oozing/滲漏；滲透；滲出

diesel-pump/柴油泵；

defiant/挑釁的；目中無人的

They just about keep nature at bay, even as a fast-moving torrent almost wets the roadway on Hardin’s green metal bridge. When that closed, 26 years ago, the town was all but cut off for five months. The Illinois is likely to crest again next week, at almost the same high level. “It’s starting to scare us,” admits Mrs Heffington.

盡管湍急的水流幾乎浸濕了哈丁綠色金屬橋上的路面，但它們幾乎把大自然拒之門外。26年前，當這個小鎮(zhèn)關閉時，它幾乎與外界隔絕了5個月。伊利諾斯州水位高度下周很可能再次達到頂峰，幾乎與之前一樣高?！拔覀冮_始害怕了，”赫芬頓夫人承認。

詞匯

Crest/到達絕頂；形成浪峰

Asked why a one-in-500-year flood is back so soon, she first blames a recent lack of dredging and then talks of “extraordinary rains up north”. She sees a long-term “cycle” as the climate changes, but “the Lord has a plan”, and she doubts people affect the weather much. The youngest waitress, Skylar Giberson, disagrees with her older relative. Denial won’t do, she says. Humans and carbon emissions are changing the climate permanently. Her plan? “We should just move.”

當被問及為何500年一遇的洪水這么快就又來襲時，她先是將原因歸咎于近期疏浚工作的缺乏，然后又談到“北方地區(qū)異常降雨”。她認為氣候變化是一個長期的“循環(huán)”，但“上帝有一個計劃”，她（這里應該是指上帝）懷疑人類對天氣的影響有多大。最年輕的女服務員Skylar Giberson不同意她年長的親戚。她說，否認是不行的。人類和碳排放正在永久性地改變氣候。那么她的解決措施是什么?“我們應該搬家?！?/p>

詞匯

Dredge/?疏浚，挖掘；采撈

?

Ms Giberson, just out of high school, may be proved right. America has just notched up its wettest 12 months ever, and floods are worsening across the Midwest. In the past century annual precipitation has risen by 10% across the region, a faster increase than for America as a whole. The Great Lakes region heated up by an average of 0.9 degrees Celsius (1.6 Fahrenheit) in the 115 years to 2016, concluded scientists from the region in a report in March. That was also faster than the national trend.

剛剛高中畢業(yè)的吉伯森女士可能是對的。美國剛剛經(jīng)歷了有史以來最潮濕的12個月，中西部地區(qū)的洪水正在惡化。在過去的一個世紀里，該地區(qū)的年降水量增加了10%，比整個美國的增長速度都要快。來自五大湖地區(qū)的科學家在3月份的一份報告中得出結論，在截至2016年的115年里，五大湖地區(qū)平均升溫0.9攝氏度(1.6華氏度)。這也超過了全國的趨勢。

詞匯

notch up/完成；創(chuàng)下；達到

?

Because warmer air holds more moisture (and can suddenly release it), precipitation will keep rising. A 30% increase in the region is possible this century if global carbon emissions go unchecked, according to the federal agencies who produced the National Climate Assessment (NCA) late last year. This warned that more winter and spring downpours will mean more sodden soil, leaching of nutrients and delays to farmers’ planting season.

因為溫暖的空氣含有更多的水分(并且可以突然釋放)，降水將持續(xù)上升。美國國家氣候評估(NCA)的聯(lián)邦機構稱，如果全球碳排放不受控制，本世紀該地區(qū)的碳排放量有可能增加30%。這警告說，更多的冬季和春季暴雨將意味著更多的浸透的土壤，營養(yǎng)物質的流失和農(nóng)民種植季節(jié)的推遲。

詞匯

Precipitation/降水

Downpour/傾盆大雨；注下

Leach/過濾，濾去；萃取

?

Robert Criss, a hydrogeologist at Washington University in St Louis, says rain bursts are most destructive and can “go crazy” in smaller river basins.

圣路易斯華盛頓大學的水文地質學家Robert Criss說，降雨爆發(fā)的破壞力最大，在較小的河流流域可能會“瘋狂”。

詞匯

Hydrogeologist/水文地質學家；水文地質工作者

But even huge rivers like the Mississippi can struggle with higher overall flows. Decades of building levees close to rivers has narrowed them, blocked flood plains and lifted water. No year has yet surpassed a huge flood in 1903, but he says the Mississippi in St Louis has reached historically high water marks in four of the past seven years.

但是，即使是像密西西比河這樣的大河，也可能與日漸變高的總流量作斗爭。數(shù)十年來，在河流附近修建的堤壩使河流變窄，阻塞了泛濫平原，抬高了水位。沒有哪一年的洪水超過1903年的大洪水，但是他說，圣路易斯的密西西比河在過去7年中有4年達到了歷史最高水位。

詞匯

Levee/堤壩（碼頭）

?

“Rivers are being constrained like never before,” he says. The Missouri river, for example, is on average half the width of its former natural state. Narrowed channels plus rising rainfall make sudden collapses of levees more likely, such as the one that wrecked the Riverdock Restaurant in 1993, or another that struck part of Davenport, an Iowan city on the Mississippi, early in May this year. Sudden floods can “tear asphalt off roads, strip top soil away, smash grain silos”, making them more destructive than gradual ones.

“河流受到前所未有的限制，”他說。例如，密蘇里河的平均寬度是以前自然狀態(tài)的一半。狹窄的河道加上不斷上升的降雨，使得堤壩更有可能突然垮塌，比如1993年摧毀Riverdock餐廳的那次，或者今年5月初襲擊密西西比州愛荷華州達文波特市部分地區(qū)的那次。突如其來的洪水可以“撕裂道路上的瀝青，剝離表層土壤，粉碎糧倉”，使它們比漸進式洪水更具破壞性。

詞匯

Asphalt/瀝青；柏油

Silo/筒倉

?

As waters rise, politicians across the Midwest are starting to speak more about climate change. In part that is because several Democrats took over governors’ mansions after elections last year. By late April 24 governors, including those of industry-heavy places like Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, had joined an alliance of states formed in 2017 to combat climate change. Members vow to meet emissions targets set in the Paris climate accord, defying President Donald Trump’s promise to pull America out of it.

隨著水位上漲，中西部的政客們開始更多地談論氣候變化。部分原因是一些民主黨人在去年選舉后接管了州長官邸。到4月24日晚些時候，包括伊利諾伊州、密歇根州、賓夕法尼亞州和威斯康星州等工業(yè)重鎮(zhèn)在內的州長們已經(jīng)加入了一個由各州組成的聯(lián)盟，該聯(lián)盟成立于2017年，旨在應對氣候變化。成員們誓言要實現(xiàn)巴黎氣候協(xié)議中設定的排放目標，無視美國總統(tǒng)唐納德·特朗普(Donald Trump)讓美國退出該協(xié)議的承諾。

詞匯

Mansion/大廈；宅邸

?

Tony Evers, Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, for example, says he has “brought science back” to his state after eight years of “climate-change deniers” under his Republican predecessor, Scott Walker. He did so because he worries about the “amount of water that’s been dumped on the state, as the crazy weather happenings continue. We’re having hundred-year floods every couple of years.” He has also beefed up the state’s once-neglected environmental agency. Illinois Democratic governor, J.B. Pritzker, declared in January that “climate change is real” and that the state’s emissions would fall by at least 26% (compared with 2005) by 2025.

例如，威斯康星州民主黨州長托尼?埃弗斯(Tony Evers)表示，在他的共和黨前任斯科特?沃克(Scott Walker)的領導下，威斯康星州“否認氣候變化”長達8年。他這么做是因為他擔心“隨著瘋狂天氣的繼續(xù)，大量的水被傾倒在這個州?！蔽覀兠扛魩啄昃蜁庥霭倌暌挥龅暮樗?。他還加強了該州一度被忽視的環(huán)境部門（的管制）。伊利諾伊州民主黨州長j·b·普利茲克(J.B. Pritzker)在1月份宣布“氣候變化是真實存在的”，到2025年，該州的（碳）排放量將(與2005年相比)下降至少26%。

?

Democrats are also responding to voters who tell pollsters they care more about the subject than ever. Several aspiring presidential candidates support some form of a “green new deal”. Jay Inslee, Washington’s governor, is basing his presidential run on the issue. Pete Buttigieg, from Indiana, says “climate change is happening in the Midwest now, it is not theoretical”. He says even Catholic conservatives in Indiana warmed to the topic after a papal encyclical on the environment in 2015.

民主黨人也在回應那些告訴民調人員他們比以往任何時候都更關心這個問題的選民。一些有抱負的總統(tǒng)候選人支持某種形式的“綠色新政”。華盛頓州長杰伊?英斯利(Jay Inslee)的總統(tǒng)競選就基于這個問題。來自印第安納州的Pete Buttigieg說:“氣候變化現(xiàn)在正在中西部發(fā)生，這不是理論上的?！彼f，在2015年教皇就環(huán)境問題發(fā)表通諭后，甚至印第安納州的天主教保守派人士也對這個話題產(chǎn)生了興趣。

詞匯

Pollster/民意測驗專家

Conservative/保守黨，保守派

Papal/教宗的；羅馬教皇的

Encyclical/通諭的；傳閱的

Mr Trump remains as hostile as ever. The New York Times reports that his administration has told scientists not to include worst-case scenarios of climate change in the next NCA, due before 2022. Some were told not to make any forecasts for changes beyond 2040, when the biggest disruption is likeliest. Yet ever more voters can see what is happening first-hand.

特朗普一如既往地充滿敵意?！都~約時報》報道稱，他的政府已經(jīng)告訴科學家們，在2022年之前的下一屆NCA中，不要包括氣候變化的最壞情況。一些人被告知，不要對2040年后的變化做出任何預測，因為2040年最有可能發(fā)生最嚴重的破壞。然而，越來越多的選民能夠親眼目睹正在發(fā)生的一切。

詞匯

Scenario/方案；情節(jié)；劇本；設想

Older polling, by Pew, had suggested that coast-dwellers were more alarmed by climate change than those living 300 miles or more inland. But inlanders’ views seem to be shifting, too. A survey published this year by the Energy Policy Institute, part of the University of Chicago, found that 70% of Americans believe climate change is real. Nearly half are also more persuaded by warnings from climate scientists than they were five years earlier.

皮尤中心的一項較早的民意調查顯示，沿海居民比居住在300英里或以上內陸地區(qū)的居民更容易受到氣候變化的影響。但內地人的觀點似乎也在轉變。芝加哥大學(University of Chicago)下屬的能源政策研究所(Energy Policy Institute)今年發(fā)布的一項調查發(fā)現(xiàn)，70%的美國人相信氣候變化是真實存在的。與五年前相比，近一半的人更相信氣候科學家的警告。

詞匯

dweller/居民，居住者

?

Many said that witnessing extreme weather events—like the tornadoes, storms and floods battering the Midwest —did most to form their views. Michael Greenstone, who runs the institute, says the Midwest is already affected by “hotter summers, and it is more challenging for agriculture”. The region’s farmers are already at the sharp end of change.

許多人說，目睹龍卷風、暴風雨和洪水等極端天氣事件對形成他們的觀點影響最大。該研究所的負責人邁克爾?格林斯通(Michael Greenstone)表示，中西部地區(qū)已經(jīng)受到“更炎熱夏季的影響，農(nóng)業(yè)面臨的挑戰(zhàn)也更大”。這一地區(qū)的農(nóng)民已經(jīng)處在巨變的風口浪尖。

詞匯

Tornado/龍卷風

Mr Greenstone’s current research, not yet published, points to spikes in summer temperature that could threaten the viability of the region’s two staple crops, corn and soyabeans, possibly even before mid-century. Unless geneticists can develop heat-resistant strains, planting will march steadily northwards. Other researchers, at Indiana University, warned late last year that more frequent summer droughts, plus the spread of pests in warmer winters, also threaten agricultural productivity across the Midwest. One summer drought, in 2012, cost the region an estimated $30bn.

格林斯通目前尚未發(fā)表的研究指出，夏季氣溫的飆升可能會威脅到該地區(qū)兩種主要農(nóng)作物——玉米和大豆的生存能力，甚至可能在本世紀中葉之前就會出現(xiàn)這種情況。除非遺傳學家能培育出耐熱品種，否則種植將穩(wěn)步向北推進。印第安納大學(Indiana University)的其他研究人員去年年底警告稱，夏季更頻繁的干旱，加上暖冬害蟲的蔓延，也威脅著整個中西部的農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)率。2012年夏季的一場干旱估計給該地區(qū)造成了300億美元的損失。

詞匯

Spike/這里有瞬間增加的意思

Staple/主要產(chǎn)品

Soyabean/大豆

Down by the river, there are some compensations. At Riverdock Mrs Heffington says a few tourists who come to gawp at the floods stop for a meal. Downriver at Alton, high-flood marks adorn white grain silos opposite the tourist centre. Molly Price, who runs it, says the floods at least provide a lively topic of conversation. “And then everyone talks about climate change.”

在滾滾河水背后，暗藏著一種獨特的補償。在Riverdock，赫芬頓夫人說，一些來這里觀看洪水的游客停下來吃飯。在下游的奧爾頓，高洪水標志裝飾著白色的谷物倉對面的旅游中心。莫利·普賴斯經(jīng)營著這家公司，她說洪水至少提供了一個生動的話題?！叭缓竺總€人都在談論氣候變化?！?/p>

詞匯

Adorn/裝飾