There is a general scientific consensus that growing carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to global warming and climate change. A new study suggests that carbon dioxide levels caused by human activity have also had a positive effect. They’ ve led to a massive increase in plant growth. Our environment analyst Roger Harrabin explains.
大家都有一个科学共识，那就是二氧化碳排放量增多导致全球变暖以及气候变化。一项新研究表明，人类活动引起的二氧化碳水平也有积极影响，即它会大大促进植物生长。本台环境分析家罗杰·哈拉宾对此做出了解释。
Today’s study in the journal Nature Climate Change has been compiled by a team from eight countries. Using satellite data, they calculate that between a quarter and a half of the earth’s vegetated land has become greener over the thirty-three years since the records began. That’s equivalent to more than four billion giant sequoia trees, the biggest trees on the planet. The scientists say the rising global temperature has helped fuel the plant boom along with more nitrogen in the environment and shifts in land management. But they estimate that seventy percent of the change has been caused by plants absorbing more of our emissions of carbon dioxide because CO2 is a plant fertilizer. This is good news because as plants soak up the carbon, they are slowing somewhat the pace of climate change by keeping the carbon out of the atmosphere. Some people skeptical about the dangers of the global warming say this proves there is less need to worry. But the paper’s lead author from Boston University says the benefit from greening is outweighed by other climate effects, melting sea ice, rising temperatures, ocean acidification and more.
今天，来自八个国家的团队在《自然》杂志上发表了研究文章《气候变化》。他们借助卫星数据计算出地球上四分之一到一半被植物覆盖的土地比30年前有记录以来绿意更浓，相当于40多亿棵巨杉树——地球上最大的树。科学家称，全球气温逐渐升高，同时环境中氮气增多，土地流转加快，有助于供给植物生长。但据他们估计，70%的变化是由植物吸收更多我们排放的二氧化碳引起的，因为二氧化碳是植物养料。这是个利好消息，因为植物吸收碳，使大气中的碳减少，从而稍稍降低气候变化的速度。一些质疑气候变暖危害的人说，这证明我们更不需要担心了。但来自波士顿大学的这篇文章的首席作者称，绿化的益处被其他气候影响盖过了，比如海冰融化、气温升高和海洋酸化等等。
If we tally the beneficial and the harmful effects of having too much carbon dioxide in the air, the net effect is largely negative.
如果我们计算空气中二氧化碳过多的益处和危害，那么有效效应是一个大负数。
And there is another warning, the authors say if the governments don’t cut emissions as they agreed, there will come a point where the climate warms so much that the capacity of plants to soak up some of our CO2 is overwhelmed by the carbon that will be released from soils drying up in the heat. No one knows when that moment will happen.
另外一个警告：各作者称，如果政府不按照约定减排，总有一天气候变暖加剧会导致植物吸收我们部分二氧化碳的能力招架不住土壤在高温下枯萎所释放出的碳。谁也不知道这一刻何时到来。
The BBC’s environment analyst Roger Harrabin.
BBC环境分析家罗杰·哈拉宾报道。
Now do you have a fondness for red and black? You may want to rethink that. A study in the US has found the bedbugs have a strong preference for some colours. The BBC health editor Michelle Roberts came in to explain the scientists’ findings.
你有没有偏爱红色和黑色？那你得重新考虑这个问题了。美国一项研究发现臭虫对某些颜色有偏爱。BBC健康编辑米歇尔·罗伯茨做客解释了科学家的这些发现。
They got lots of these adult bedbugs and they put them in a dish. And with little triangles of tent-like card of different colours, they found that the bedbugs seem to gravitate towards red or black whereas the ones that they really didn’t like were the yellow and the green.
他们捉了许多成年臭虫，放到一个盘子里。借用不同颜色的像帐篷一样的三角卡片，发现似乎红色和黑色更吸引臭虫，臭虫不怎么喜欢黄色和绿色。
Any indication why they prefer certain colours?
他们为什么会喜欢某些颜色，有什么说法吗？
It’s difficult to know.
这个很难知道。
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