VOA慢速英語:Are Rising Temperatures to Blame for Typhoon Haiyan?

From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.

這里是美國之音慢速英語新聞報道。

The Philippine government is defending its efforts to get assistance to victims of Typhoon Haiyan. Many have received little or no assistance since the storm struck a week ago. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said Friday in the city of Tacloban that the need is massive, immediate and not everyone can be reached.

菲律賓政府正全力救助臺風海燕受害者，自一個星期前這場風暴襲擊菲律賓以來，許多受害者只得到很少甚至未能得到救助。菲律賓內(nèi)政部長羅哈斯(Mar Roxas)周五在塔克洛班市表示人們急需大量援助，但不是每個人都能得到援助。

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other US Navy ships arrived in the Philippines this week to help with disaster relief operations. The ships brought helicopters and emergency aid.

本周，喬治·華盛頓號航母和其它美國海軍艦艇已經(jīng)抵達菲律賓幫助救災行動，這些艦船還帶來了直升機和應急救援。

The Navy is deploying the helicopters to inspect damage from Typhoon Haiyan. The aircraft are also being used to transport supplies to affected communities. The aircraft carrier also has medical services and can produce 1.5 million liters of fresh water a day.

海軍正部署直升機視察臺風海燕的受災情況，并向受災社區(qū)運輸物資。航母還可以提供醫(yī)療服務，并且每天能生產(chǎn)150萬升淡水。

The storm displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The country's chief of disaster relief said Friday that at least 3,600 people are known to have died.

這場暴風雨使得數(shù)十萬人流離失所。菲律賓主要救災部門周五表示，至少已經(jīng)有3600人遇難。

The amount of food and other aid sent to the Philippines has increased in recent days. But moving the aid from airports or other areas has been a slow process, in part because wreckage blocks many roads.

近日，運往菲律賓的食品和其它救援物資有所增加。但將這些救援物資從機場或其它地方運走進展緩慢，部分原因是許多道路受阻。

Scientists say Typhoon Haiyan was one of the strongest storms on record ever to hit land. Some people wonder whether man-made climate change played a part in the typhoon. Bob Ward is with the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics.

科學家們表示，臺風海燕是有史以來最為嚴重的一次。有人懷疑人為氣候變化是不是在臺風中起到了一定作用。鮑勃·沃德(Bob Ward)就職于倫敦經(jīng)濟學院的格蘭瑟姆氣候變化研究所。

"There's certainly strong circumstantial evidence because we know that the strength of tropical cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, depends very much on sea surface temperatures. They act as the fuel. And we've got very warm waters in the Pacific at the moment, which have been increasing because of climate change, and those very warm waters are what powered this typhoon."

他說，“這一質(zhì)疑肯定有充足的間接證據(jù)支持，因為我們都知道，熱帶氣旋、颶風和臺風的強度在很大程度上取決于海洋表面溫度，它們起到了相當于燃料的作用。此刻太平洋水域已經(jīng)非常溫暖，由于氣候變化它們持續(xù)升溫，而這些溫水造就了這次臺風。”

Bob Ward says the intensity of storms seems to be increasing.

沃德表示，風暴的強度似乎在增加。

"Our models are not very clear at the moment. But we might expect in the future that we might even see fewer, but those that do occur will be much stronger than we're experiencing now."

他說，“我們的模型此刻不是很清楚。預計未來我們能看到的更少，但一旦發(fā)生，將會比我們現(xiàn)在經(jīng)歷的這場臺風更強。”

Benedict Dempsey is with the aid group Save the Children. He says detailed weather predictions meant that some aid workers were already in place when the storm hit.

本尼迪克特·鄧普西(Benedict Dempsey)就職于兒童救助會。他表示，詳盡的天氣預測意味著在風暴襲擊時一些救援人員已經(jīng)到位。

"Half a dozen people went into the path of the storm in order to be prepared for the response in Tacloban and elsewhere in the Philippines."

他說，“6人走進了風暴來襲的路線，以準備應對塔克洛班市和菲律賓其它地方的災情。”

He says aid agencies are learning to prepare for natural disasters of this kind.

他說，救援機構(gòu)正在學習應對這類自然災害。

"Between around 2002 and 2011, on average over 260 million people a year are being affected by disasters. And so we're seeing the reality of these trends acting out on the ground, and it's absolutely something that we're having to prepare to respond to in the future."

他說，“在2002年到2011年期間，平均每年超過2.6億人受到災害的影響。所以我們看到了這種趨勢的現(xiàn)實正在全球上演，這絕對需要我們做好在未來應對它們的準備。”

Benny Peiser is director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation. His group questions whether human activities are to blame for rising temperatures. He says people should be concerned about disaster preparation instead of cutting gases linked to climate change.

班尼·佩薩爾(Benny Peiser)是全球變暖政策基金會負責人。他的研究小組質(zhì)疑人類活動是否該對氣溫上升負責。他說，人們應該關(guān)注災難應對，而不是減少和氣候變化有關(guān)的氣體排放。

"This was the 20th tropical storm to have hit the Philippines this year. So this is going to continue no matter what we decide on CO2, these storms will continue."

他說，“這是今年襲擊菲律賓的第20場熱帶風暴。所以不管我們在二氧化碳排放上做出什么決定，這些風暴會照樣來襲。”

Climate change talks are taking place in Warsaw, Poland. At the talks, the Philippine representative appealed for an agreement to cut industrial gases like carbon dioxide. Scientist Bob Ward says the delegates should pay close attention.

氣候變化會談正在波蘭的華沙舉行。在會談中，菲律賓代表呼吁達成協(xié)議減少二氧化碳等工業(yè)氣體的排放?？茖W家沃德表示，代表們應該密切關(guān)注。

"I think this typhoon will focus minds very much on the fact that if we squabble and delay in getting an agreement, we're going to see more and more of these kind of events with very, very severe human costs."

沃德說，“我認為這次臺風將使很多人開始關(guān)注這樣一個事實，如果我們爭論不斷，更晚達成協(xié)議，我們將會看到越來越多這類人類傷亡慘重的事件。

But observers at the Warsaw talks say a deal on cutting greenhouse gases still appears to be far away.

但華沙會談的觀察員們表示，要達成削減溫室氣體排放的協(xié)議尚遙遙無期。