字神帝國英語天地

 今日主題：Methane Plumes Bubbling along U.S. Northwest Coast  美國西北海岸甲烷外泄

 洪欣老師推薦：托福聽力最好的課外教材：60-Second Science
 康康精選托福會考的主題，堅持每天精聽一定會進步的哦!!

 建議方法：
1. 先聽兩三遍 (不看文稿)
2. 再一句一句聽寫 (每句都要聽寫數遍，直到寫出85%以上的字)
3. 最後check文稿，看哪聽不出來，單字沒背過，還是發音不熟。
4. 堅持天天聽，就能每天進步哦。

 MP3音檔 (按右鍵可下載聽)：喜歡的同學，幫忙推或按讚哦~~
http://online1.tingclass.net/voaspe/…/20151119sa_science.mp3

 只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：

 中英文稿：
The Northwest is famous for its microbrews. But the region’s bubbles aren’t just for beer. Scientists have found plumes of the potent greenhouse gas methane bubbling up from the seafloor off the coast of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
美國西北部地區以自製啤酒而聞名。但是該地區的泡沫並不僅僅是用來制啤酒的。科學家們發現大量的溫室氣體甲烷從俄勒岡州、華盛頓以及加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞的海岸冒出。

The methane comes from rotting organic matter, that is, the waste and dead bodies of land and marine organisms. “They fall into the sediments and they decompose. It’s like a compost pile.” Paul Johnson, a marine geologist at the University of Washington.
這些甲烷來自於腐爛的有機物質，例如陸生和海洋生物的死屍。“這些屍體陷入沉積物中，然後分解。就像一個堆肥。”華盛頓大學海洋地質學家，保羅•詹森說到。

Methane leaks out of this great compost pile all along the continental margin. But Johnson says some plumes may originate in vast layers of frozen methane called hydrates. Scientists worry that rising ocean temperatures may destabilize these deposits, freeing up even more methane. And Johnson thinks he already sees evidence that it’s happening.
甲烷沿著大陸邊緣的大堆肥中釋放出來。但是詹森稱，一些甲烷來自於巨大的凍層甲烷也稱之為甲烷水合物。科學家們擔心海鹽溫度上升可能會讓這些沉澱物變得不穩定，釋放出更多的甲烷氣體。但是詹森認為自己已經看到了這件事情正在發生的證據。

Over the past few years, Johnson’s team compiled a map of more than a hundred Northwest methane seeps. In a new study in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, the researchers report a spike in the number of plumes emanating from depths of about 500 meters. That’s the shallowest depth where frozen methane is stable—and the first place scientists expect it to start bubbling out.
在過去幾年，詹森的團隊繪製了美國西北部甲烷洩露一百多處的地圖。在雜誌《地球化學》、《地球物理》以及《自然地理學》的新研究中，研究人員稱甲烷數量增加來自于500米的深度。該深度處，是凍甲烷處於穩定狀態的最淺深度——也是科學家們預計甲烷首先開始洩露的地方。

But Johnson says we’re not facing a climate catastrophe just yet. Most of the methane released at the seafloor gets consumed by bacteria before it can escape into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, that’s still bad news for Northwest ecosystems. When bacteria feast on methane, they also consume precious oxygen and produce carbon dioxide—which makes seawater more acidic.
但是，詹森稱我們尚未面對氣候災難。海底釋放的大量甲烷在進入達大氣之前已被細菌消耗。不幸的是，這對美國的西北地方的生態系統仍是噩耗。細菌在享受甲烷盛宴的時候，他們也會消耗寶貴的氧氣並產生二氧化碳——這會讓海水的酸性更強。

“We have a bad problem out here with ocean acidification and anoxia. There are fish kills along the Oregon coast and now they are spreading up here along the Washington coast. This is making that problem worse.”
面臨海水酸化以及缺氧，我們有一個嚴重的問題。在俄勒岡州海岸有魚類死亡，而現在魚類死亡擴展到了華盛頓海岸。這讓問題更加嚴峻。

After all, these hydrates seem to be belching out lots of gas.
畢竟，這些水合物似乎在噴出大量的氣體。

“And we calculated that the amount of methane that’s released from this hydrate decomposition is equivalent to the Deep Horizons spill in the Gulf of Mexico, every year.”
“同時我們計算甲烷水合物釋放的甲烷氣體的數量等同於每年墨西哥灣Deep Horizons釋放的量。”

As warming continues, Johnson says that figure could increase by a factor of four or five. In short, the bubbly waters of the Northwest won’t go flat anytime soon.
隨著繼續變暖，詹森稱甲烷釋可能會增加四、五倍。簡而言之，西北地方的泡沫水域不會立刻平靜。