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Wildfires are wreaking havoc in New Mexico and Colorado, where more than 32,000 people have been evacuated. And who knows where other fires will break out before summer ends.
在新墨西哥州和科羅拉多州野火肆掠，有超過3萬2千人被疏散。誰也不知道夏季結(jié)束前下一場大火會在哪里爆發(fā)？
This is exactly the kind of intense wildfire season we can expect as the climate changes thanks to our continuing emissions of greenhouse gases. Global warming is anticipated to make wet regions wetter and dry regions drier.
由于持續(xù)排放的溫室氣體導(dǎo)致了氣候變化，火災(zāi)季活動頻繁也是預(yù)料之中的后果。預(yù)計全球變暖會讓濕地更加潮濕，干旱地區(qū)更加干燥。
To some extent that is already happening; a dry winter set the stage for an early fire season. Worse, warmer winters have allowed pests like the mountain pine beetle to thrive. The insect has munched its way through mountain forests from British Columbia down through Colorado, leaving plenty of dead timber to fuel fires, also a consequence of the fire suppression policies of past decades.
在某種程度上，這其實已經(jīng)發(fā)生了：干燥的冬季預(yù)示著火災(zāi)季會早早到來。更糟糕的是，溫暖的冬季會為山松甲蟲的大肆繁衍提供條件。這種昆蟲會啃遍從不列顛哥倫比亞至科羅拉多地區(qū)的山地森林，留下大量易燃的死木材。這也是過去幾十年的火災(zāi)壓制政策的后果。
Ultimately, global warming may eliminate the iconic ponderosa pine forests. Blazing fires could burn down existing stands, opening room for colonization by faster-growing prairie grasses or other plants. And a changing climate may prove more amenable to grassland than forest.
最終，全球變暖會使標志性的黃松森林消失。熊熊燃燒的大火會燒毀現(xiàn)有的岸站，為長勢兇猛的草原草和其它植物提供開放的殖民空間。
But we may gain forests in other parts of the world. That might happen to Africa's savannahs, where the species causing these transitions first evolved.
但是在世界其它地區(qū)可能會收獲森林。這也許會發(fā)生在非洲大草原，這里正是強悍的入侵物種進化的溫床。
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