Extreme weather and climate change 極端天氣和氣候變化

本集內容

學習要點

有關 “heat（高溫）” 的詞匯

邊看邊答

By what amount does the Paris Climate Agreement aim to limit the rise in global temperature?

文字稿

Temperatures were among the highest in the UK [today] here at Kew Gardens [in London]. A scorching 37.7 degrees [Celsius]. So those who braved the sunshine came prepared. And climate scientists are now confident that heatwaves are more likely and more extreme because of climate change.

今天（7 月 25 日），倫敦邱園的氣溫是全英國最高的。灼熱的氣溫高達 37.7 攝氏度。迎接陽光的勇者們都準備好瞭。氣候科學傢現在可以肯定地說，高溫熱浪天氣更有可能發生，來勢也更兇猛。

Professor Liz Bentley, Chief Executive, Royal Meteorological Society
The fact that we’ve seen these temperature rises, the baseline temperature has increased by about one degree globally since pre-industrial times and it’s that level that just means… in normal conditions we’d see heatwave conditions and temperatures around kind of just above average, but you add that extra layer of heat on, that’s when we start to break those records.

莉茲·本特利教授英國皇傢氣象學會首席執行官
“事實上，我們看到瞭溫度上升，全球基準溫度自前工業化時代以來已經上升瞭大約一度，這就意味著在正常情況下，熱浪天氣和氣溫略高於平均水平，但如果加上額外的熱量，氣溫就會打破歷史記錄。”

And globally over the last century the trend is clear – it has been heating up. The last four years were the warmest ever recorded. For the future, the temperature increase depends on global carbon emissions.

在過去的一個世紀裡，在全球范圍內明顯可見的趨勢是氣候不斷升溫。過去四年是有記錄以來最熱的四年。未來氣溫上升將取決於全球的碳排放量。

Current targets that governments have signed up to to limit those emissions will see a rise of about 3.3 degrees by 2100. Under the Paris Climate Agreement – that’s the more ambitious deal signed up to by almost 200 countries in 2016 – the aim is to keep that below 1.5 degrees.

各國政府已簽署限制溫室氣體排放的協議，當前的目標是，到 2100 年，將升溫幅度控制在 3.3 攝氏度以內。根據《巴黎協定》 —— 這是近 200 個國傢在 2016 年簽署的更富有雄心的協議，目標是將氣溫升高控制在 1.5 攝氏度以內。

Today of all days we’ve come to the hottest glasshouse in Kew Gardens [because] this is where all the desert-adapted plants live. And even for these plants they’ve opened all of the windows to try and get some ventilation in here, because according to my thermometer it is now more than 39 degrees in here. And these plants are adapted to the hottest, driest conditions on Earth.

在今天這個高溫天，我們來到瞭邱園中溫度最高的溫室，因為所有沙漠植物都生活在這裡。即便對於這些植物，工作人員也打開瞭所有的窗戶，試圖讓這裡通風，因為根據我的溫度計顯示，現在這裡的溫度已經超過瞭 39 度。這些植物適應在地球上最炎熱、最幹燥的環境中生存。

It’s those adaptations that scientists here are studying in order to work out how we might grow more drought-resistant plants in the future. While the collections here look exotic, they contain plants that could eventually become familiar food crops.

科學傢們正在研究這些適應性，以找出未來我們如何種植更多抗旱植物的方法。雖然這裡的植物看起來很奇特，但它們中有一些最終可能成為常見的糧食作物。

With the gardens baking in the Sun, the preparation continues for a warmer, more uncertain climate in the future.

看著邱園的花園在陽光下烘烤，我們為未來更加溫暖、更不確定的氣候繼續做準備。