中東國家卡塔爾天氣炎熱,是真的很熱。
On summer nights, temperatures rarely dip below 32 degrees Celsius (that's 90 degrees Fahrenheit), and during the day they can soar upwards of 48 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).
在夏日的夜晚,其氣溫很少有低于32攝氏度(90華氏度)的時候,而在白天,其氣溫可飆升至48攝氏度(120華氏度)。
In response, the nation has done something that sounds absurd: it's started to air condition its outdoor spaces - a "solution" which, ultimately, could exacerbate the sweltering heat.
為了抵抗酷暑,這個國家做了一件聽起來很荒謬的事:它開始在室外裝空調(diào),而該“解決方案”最終可能會加劇酷熱。
A fascinating story by The Washington Post dives deep into Qatar's temperature woes, noting how the extreme heat has put the health of the nation's residents at risk. In response, it has installed air conditioning units in its open-air sports stadiums, malls, and markets.
《華盛頓郵報》的一篇精彩報道深入探討了卡塔爾的氣溫問題,它指出極端高溫已使該國居民處于健康風險之中。為了抵抗酷暑,該國在露天體育場、商場和市場中安裝了空調(diào)設備。
"If you turn off air conditioners, it will be unbearable," Yousef al-Horr, founder of the sustainability-focused Gulf Organization for Research and Development, told the Post. "You cannot function effectively."
“如果你關(guān)掉空調(diào),炎熱的環(huán)境將不堪忍受,你也無法有效地工作,”專注于可持續(xù)發(fā)展的海灣研發(fā)組織創(chuàng)始人約瑟夫·奧爾告訴《華盛頓郵報》。
The air conditioners might work to temporarily cool Qatar's residents, but they're an environmental catch-22: the nation uses fossil fuels to generate the electricity needed to run the devices.
這些空調(diào)或許可以暫時為卡塔爾居民降溫,但它們本身就是難以解決的環(huán)境問題:該國使用化石燃料來獲取運行這些設備所需的電力。
Those fossil fuels, in turn, produce carbon emissions, which contribute to the global warming that's cooking its public spaces.
而這些化石燃料又產(chǎn)生了碳排放,加劇全球變暖,破壞公共場所。
While signatories of the Paris Agreement agreed to attempt to avoid letting temperatures rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, Qatar has already exceeded that threshold - meaning the nation's current situation could foreshadow our future one.
盡管《巴黎協(xié)定》的簽署國同意盡量避免使氣溫上升至比工業(yè)化以前的水平還高2攝氏度(3.6華氏度),但卡塔爾已經(jīng)超過了這一界限,這意味著該國的現(xiàn)狀可能預示著我們未來的狀況。
"Qatar is one of the fastest warming areas of the world, at least outside of the Arctic," Berkeley Earth climate data scientist Zeke Hausfather told The Washington Post.
伯克利地球氣候數(shù)據(jù)科學家澤克·豪薩澤爾在接受《華盛頓郵報》采訪時表示,“卡塔爾是世界上最快變暖的地區(qū)之一,至少在北極以外是這樣的。”
"Changes there can help give us a sense of what the rest of the world can expect if we do not take action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions."
“如果我們不采取行動減少溫室氣體排放,那里的變化或許可以幫我們預期世界其他地方未來的樣子。”