Cooling hot cities 为酷热的城市降温
地球正在升温，这个现象在人口密集的城市尤其明显。城市中的混凝土建筑和道路会吸收并锁住热量；同时，虽然人们家中安装的空调可以让室内变得凉爽，但这增加了二氧化碳的排放量。本文介绍为保持城市生活舒适度应运而生的可持续创新降温方法。
词汇：climate 气候
We're all familiar with the idea of climate change and how our planet is warming.
Extremes
in temperature have become more commonplace, making parts of the world difficult to live in. But one place where
excessive heat
is making life very uncomfortable is our cities. Luckily,
innovation
might be
keeping a lid on it
. 我们都熟悉气候变化的概念以及我们的星球是如何变暖的。极端温度变得越来越普遍，使得世界上的一些地方难以生存。但是有一个地方，过热让我们的生活非常不舒服，那就是我们的城市。幸运的是，创新可能会控制住它。 As
thermometers
record temperatures, sometimes above 50 degrees Celsius, solutions are being sought to cool the air in our cities. In India, for example,
heatwaves
and rapid
urbanisation
have led to a big rise in the use of
air-conditioning units
, adding to CO2 emissions. So, architects, looking for a
sustainable
cooling solution, are reviving an ancient 'lattice' design, used in old buildings like the Taj Mahal, to construct comfortable,
low-carbon
buildings. Yatin Pandya told the BBC: "Traditional architectural forms have proven their performance in
combatting
environmental conditions." 随着温度计记录的温度有时超过50摄氏度，人们正在寻求冷却城市空气的解决方案。例如，在印度，热浪和快速城市化导致空调设备使用量大幅增加，增加了二氧化碳排放量。因此，寻找可持续冷却解决方案的建筑师们正在复兴一种古老的“格子”设计，这种设计曾用于泰姬陵等老建筑，以建造舒适、低碳的建筑。Yatin Pandya告诉BBC:“传统的建筑形式已经证明了它们在对抗环境条件方面的表现。” In America, about 80% of the population lives in cities, and it's these cities that suffer from an
urban heat island effect
, caused by factors such as
trapped waste heat
, concrete structures and pavements absorbing the sun and tall buildings blocking the wind. Residents and developers have tried to
heatproof
these places by planting large trees that offer
shade
and putting plants and gardens on top of roofs that use
vegetation
to help trap heat. And in Los Angeles, there's an experiment to cover streets with light-coloured material that
reflects
rather than absorbs the sun and so they remain cooler than typical black roads. 在美国，大约80%的人口居住在城市，正是这些城市受到城市热岛效应的影响，造成这种影响的因素包括被困的废热、混凝土结构和路面吸收阳光以及高层建筑阻挡风。居民和开发商试图通过种植大树来提供遮阳，在屋顶上种植植物和花园来帮助吸收热量，从而使这些地方隔热。在洛杉矶，有一项实验是用浅色材料覆盖街道，这种材料反射而不是吸收阳光，因此它们比典型的黑色道路更凉爽。 But it's satellites in space that are really giving us the best picture of our
over-heated
cities. Glynn Hulley, who is leading an image-capturing project, called the Land Surface Temperature Monitoring mission, told the BBC: "The data can be used to identify
hotspots
, vulnerable regions, and assess the
cooling
impacts of heat
mitigation
approaches." It's already found how
green
spaces
, white roads and
water
features
, have helped prevent our cities from
boiling
over
. But with excessive heat still posing a threat to our lives, more solutions are still needed. 但只有太空中的卫星才能真正给我们提供过热城市的最佳图景。Glynn Hulley正在领导一个名为“地表温度监测任务”的图像捕捉项目，他告诉BBC:“这些数据可以用来识别热点和脆弱地区，并评估减热方法的冷却效果。”它已经发现了绿色空间、白色道路和水景是如何帮助防止我们的城市沸腾的。但是，由于过热仍然对我们的生命构成威胁，我们仍然需要更多的解决方案。 词汇表 extreme 极端 excessive heat 过热，极度高温 innovation 创新 keep a lid on (something) 防止（情况）失控 thermometer 温度计 heatwave 热浪，酷热期 urbanisation 城市化 air-conditioning unit 空调 sustainable 可持续的，长期有效的 low-carbon 低碳的 combat 抵御，对抗 urban heat island effect 城市热岛效应 trapped waste heat 散发不出去的废热 heatproof 使…隔热 shade 阴凉处 vegetation 植物，植被 reflect 反射 over-heated 过热的，气温过高的 hotspot 高温地区，热点 cooling 降温，冷却 mitigation 缓解 green spaces 绿地，绿色空间 water features 人工水景 boiling over （变得）过热 测验与练习
1. 阅读课文并回答问题。
1. What has led to a big rise in the use of air-conditioning units in India? 2. What absorbs the sun and contributes towards making cities hotter? 3. Why do roads in Los Angeles covered with light-coloured material help reduce heat in the cities? 4. True or false?
Green spaces can help mitigate the effects of heat in our cities.
5. How often have extremes in temperature been experienced recently?
2. 选择意思恰当的单词或词组来完成下列句子。
1. According to the _______, the water temperature is 25 degrees Celsius, so it's perfect for a swim. heatwave urbanisation thermometer boiling 2. My car has _______, so I need to be towed to a garage to get it fixed. over-heated over-heats over-heating heated over 3. Scientists are trying to develop a more _______ way of travelling by aeroplane. innovation mitigation sustainable combatting 4. Weather forecasters are predicting a _______ this weekend. I'm heading for the beach! extremes heatproof heatwave hotspots 5. The government is taking action to try and _______ inflation. keeps a lid on keeping a lid on kept a lid on keep a lid on 答案
1. 阅读课文并回答问题。
1. What has led to a big rise in the use of air-conditioning units in India?
Heatwaves and rapid urbanisation have led to a big rise in the use of air-conditioning units in India.
2. What absorbs the sun and contributes towards making cities hotter?
Concrete buildings and pavements absorb the sun and help to make the air in cities hotter.
3. Why do roads in Los Angeles covered with light-coloured material help reduce heat in the cities?
Because roads in Los Angeles covered with light-coloured material reflect the heat from the sun.
4. True or false?
Green spaces can help mitigate the effects of heat in our cities.
True. Green spaces have shown to help stop cities from overheating.
5. How often have extremes in temperature been experienced recently?
Extremes in temperature have become more commonplace.
2. 选择意思恰当的单词或词组来完成下列句子。
1. According to the
thermometer
, the water temperature is 25 degrees Celsius, so it's perfect for a swim. 2. My car has
over-heated
, so I need to be towed to a garage to get it fixed. 3. Scientists are trying to develop a more
sustainable
way of travelling by aeroplane. 4. Weather forecasters are predicting a
heatwave
this weekend. I'm heading for the beach! 5. The government is taking action to try and
keep a lid on
inflation. 文章来源BBC侵权删
