[ti:Father and Son Aim to Stop Ice Melt in One of Earth’s Coldest Places]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
[00:00.04]Scientist Sergey Zimov has long studied the frozen ground,
[00:06.80]or permafrost, in one of Earth's coldest places,
[00:11.60]about 130 kilometers south of Russia's Arctic coast.
[00:19.04]It has been melting fast as planet temperatures increase.
[00:25.44]Now Zimov is warning about the thawing of all the materials
[00:31.80]that permafrost has kept trapped since prehistoric times.
[00:37.72]He says those materials will release
[00:41.40]huge amounts of harmful greenhouse gasses.
[00:45.68]These are the heat trapping gasses blamed for the warming planet.
[00:52.96]The 66-year-old has studied permafrost
[00:57.00]from his scientific base in the Yakutia area for many years.
[01:03.72]Recently, he was able to easily drive a thin metal pole
[01:09.48]meters deep into the Siberian ground.
[01:13.32]The area has seen temperatures rise
[01:17.40]more than three times the world average.
[01:20.76]"This is one of the coldest places on earth
[01:25.36]and there is no permafrost," Zimov told Reuters news agency.
[01:32.72]"Methane has never increased in the atmosphere
[01:36.52]at the speed it is today...I think this is linked to our permafrost."
[01:43.68]Permafrost covers 65 percent of Russia's landmass
[01:49.40]and about a quarter of the northern landmass.
[01:53.24]Scientists say gas releases, or emissions,
[01:58.72]from its thaw could one day equal or even overtake
[02:03.60]the amount of industrial emissions
[02:06.52]produced by the European Union.
[02:09.72]Emissions from permafrost, however, are seen as natural,
[02:16.04]and therefore not included in international agreements
[02:20.72]aimed at limiting such pollution.
[02:24.88]Zimov examines data from a U.S.-run
[02:28.92]worldwide network of climate recording stations.
[02:34.04]He says the information shows that permafrost thaw
[02:39.60]is already releasing greenhouse gases.
[02:44.68]During the COVID-19 crisis, the amount of methane
[02:49.56]and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere
[02:52.60]was increasing at a faster rate than before.
[02:57.88]Yet, industrial production and transportation activity worldwide
[03:04.04]dropped substantially during the same period.
[03:08.36]Scientists say whole cities sit on permafrost
[03:13.84]and its thawing could cost Russia $100 billion in damage
[03:20.64]by 2050 if the warming rate continues.
[03:26.16]Zimov wants to slow the thaw in one area of Yakutia
[03:31.60]by populating a protected area called Pleistocene Park
[03:36.92]with large plant-eating animals including bison, horses and camels.
[03:44.24]Such animals pack down the snow,
[03:47.68]making it more dense and less able to absorb heat.
[03:52.32]Zimov and his son Nikita began to bring animals
[03:58.00]to Pleistocene Park in 1996.
[04:02.08]So far, about 200 kinds are deployed in the area.
[04:08.24]The scientists say the permafrost at the park
[04:12.76]is colder than that in other areas.
[04:17.24]Zimov would also like to include mammoths
[04:21.20]in his natural method for engineering a cooler environment.
[04:26.84]The elephant ancestors disappeared from Earth
[04:30.84]thousands of years ago, but scientists have expressed hope
[04:35.76]for their recreation through genetic methods.
[04:39.84]Including the animals would help recreate
[04:43.52]the ecological system of the last Ice Age,
[04:47.56]which ended almost 12,000 years ago.
[04:51.88]Zimov and his son were co-writers of a study
[04:56.52]published in Nature's Scientific Reports last year.
[05:02.52]The study showed that the animals in Pleistocene Park
[05:07.24]had reduced the average snow depth by half.
[05:11.28]In addition, the average yearly soil temperature
[05:16.16]fell by 1.9 degrees Celsius,
[05:20.52]with an even bigger drop during winter and spring.
[05:25.52]Researchers say more work is needed to confirm
[05:30.08]whether such untraditional methods might be an effective way
[05:35.16]to fight the effects of climate change on permafrost.
[05:40.20]However, models described in the study
[05:44.40]suggest adding large animals into the Arctic environment
[05:49.68]could stop the thaw of as much as 37 percent of permafrost.
[05:56.36]I'm Bryan Lynn.
[05:59.04]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
END OF TRACK. "END OF TRACK." The two men bowed. "Whoever was that person you were talking to?" she enquired, as soon as they stood together. The took of triumph faded from her eyes, she had grown worn and weary. The roses were wilting on the walls, the lights were mostly down now. Hetty, looking in to see if anything was wanted, found herself driven away almost fiercely. I only saw Master Jervie once when he called at tea time, The year 1747 was opened by measures of restriction. The House of Lords, offended at the publication of the proceedings of the trial of Lord Lovat, summoned the parties to their bar, committed them to prison, and refused to liberate them till they had pledged themselves not to repeat the offence, and had paid very heavy fees. The consequence of this was that the transactions of the Peers were almost entirely suppressed for nearly thirty years from this time, and we draw our knowledge of them chiefly from notes taken by Horace Walpole and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. What is still more remarkable, the reports of the House of Commons, being taken by stealth, and on the merest sufferance, are of the most meagre kind, sometimes altogether wanting, and the speeches are given uniformly under fictitious names; for to have attributed to Pitt or Pelham their[112] speeches by name would have brought down on the printers the summary vengeance of the House. Many of the members complained bitterly of this breach of the privileges of Parliament, and of "being put into print by low fellows"; but Pelham had the sense to tolerate them, saying, "Let them alone; they make better speeches for us than we can make for ourselves." Altogether, the House of Commons exhibited the most deplorable aspect that can be conceived. The Ministry had pursued Walpole's system of buying up opponents by place, or pension, or secret service money, till there was no life left in the House. Ministers passed their measures without troubling themselves to say much in their behalf; and the opposition dwindled to Sir John Hinde Cotton, now dismissed from office, and a feeble remnant of Jacobites raised but miserable resistance. In vain the Prince of Wales and the secret instigations of Bolingbroke and Doddington stimulated the spirit of discontent; both Houses had degenerated into most silent and insignificant arenas of very commonplace business. "It certainly will be. Miss Widgeon," answered Maria, with strictly "company manners." "One who has never had a brother exposed to the constant dangers of army life can hardly understand how glad we all feel to have Si snatched from the very jaws of death and brung back to us." "Just plug at 'em as you would at a crow, and then go on your way whistlin'?" persisted Harry. "Hurroo!" echoed Hennessey; "that's the ticket." "Come forward, keeper," continued the baron, "and state how these arrows came into your hands!" "Yes." HoMEJULIA京香2018下载
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