如何讓撒哈拉沙漠再變綠洲 How to make the Sahara Desert green again

蔣建平

撒哈拉沙漠是世界上最大的熱帶沙漠，一項(xiàng)新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果在那里建立大規(guī)模的太陽能和風(fēng)力發(fā)電廠，它的部分地區(qū)可能會(huì)恢復(fù)綠色。

The?Sahara?is?the?world?s?largest?hot?desert，?but?parts?of?it?could?be?made?green?if?massive?solar?and?wind?farms?set?up?shops?there，?a?new?study?finds.?These?farms?could?increase?rain?in?the?Sahara，?especially?in?the?neighboring?Sahel?region，?a?semiarid?area?that?lies?south?of?the?giant?desert.?This?increase?in?precipitation，?in?turn，?leads?to?an?increase?in?vegetation?（植被）?cover，?creating?a?positive?feedback?loop.

Researchers?already?knew?that?quantities?of?wind?and?solar?farms?can?increase?the?heat?and?rainfall?in?the?areas?around?them.?But?this?new?study?modeled?how?wind?and?solar?farms?would?affect?the?Sahara，?while?considering?how?green?plants?would?respond?to?these?changes.?“Previous?modeling?studies?have?shown?that?large?scale?wind?and?solar?farms?can?produce?significant?climate?change?at?continental?scales，”?the?study?s?co?lead?researcher?Yan?Li?said.?“But?the?lack?of?vegetation?feedback?could?make?the?modeled?climate?impacts?very?different?from?their?actual?behavior.”

The?model?showed?that?wind?farms?caused?localized?air?temperatures?to?warm.?The?solar?farms?would?also?have?a?positive?effect?on?temperature?and?rainfall，?the?researchers?noted.?“We?found?that?the?large?scale?installation?（安裝）?of?solar?and?wind?farms?can?bring?more?rainfall?and?promote?vegetation?growth?in?these?regions，”?the?study?s?co?lead?researcher?Eugenia?Kalnay，?a?distinguished?professor?at?the?University?of?Maryland，?said?in?the?statement.?“The?rainfall?increase?is?a?consequence?of?complex?land?atmosphere?interactions?that?occur?because?solar?panels?and?wind?turbines?create?rougher?and?darker?land?surfaces.”

The?study?s?authors?also?modeled?what?would?happen?if?wind?and?solar?farms?covered?more?than?3.4?million?square?miles?（9?million?square?kilometers）?of?the?Sahara.?On?average，?the?wind?farms?would?generate?about?3?terawatts?（太瓦），?while?the?solar?farms?would?generate?79?terawatts?of?electrical power?in?one?year，?they?found.?That?s?a?lot?of?energy.?One?terawatt?can?power?about?10?billion?100?watt?light?bulbs?at?the?same?time.?In?2017，?the?global?energy?demand?was?only?18?terawatts，?so?this?is?obviously?much?more?energy?than?is?currently?needed?worldwide.

If?this?model?ever?becomes?a?reality，?the?increase?in?rainfall?and?vegetation，?combined?with?clean?electricity?as?a?result?of?solar?and?wind?energy，?could?help?agriculture，?economic?development?and?social?well?being?in?the?Sahara，?Sahel，?Middle?East?and?other?nearby?regions.

1.?What?new?factor?is?included?in?the?study?by?Yan?Li？

A.?The?behavior?of?researchers.

B.?The?response?of?plants?to?climate?change.

C.?The?number?of?wind?and?solar?farms.

D.?The?impacts?of?wind?and?solar?farms?on?climate?change.

2.?What?caused?the?rainfall?increase?in?the?model？

A.?The?improvement?to?the?study.

B.?The?change?in?the?temperature.

C.?The?growth?of?green?trees?and?grass.

D.?The?interactions?between?the?air?and?land?surfaces.

3.?What?is?paragraph?4?mainly?about？

A.?An?advertisement?for?the?electricity?of?the?Sahara.

B.?The?potential?of?the?Sahara.

C.?Quantities?of?power?from?wind?and?solar?farms.

D.?The?conclusion?of?a?study?about?the?desert.

4.?What?can?we?learn?about?the?model?from?the?last?paragraph？

A.?The?main?purpose?of?the?model?is?to?save?energy.

B.?The?model?is?still?on?the?way?to?becoming?true.

C.?The?running?of?the?model?uses?clean?electricity.

D.?The?model?is?speeding?up?the?development?of?the?Sahara.

Ⅰ.?Difficult?sentence?in?the?text

The?rainfall?increase?is a?consequence?of?complex?land?atmosphere?interactions?that?occur?because?solar?panels?and?wind?turbines?create?rougher?and?darker?land?surfaces.?降雨量的增加是復(fù)雜的陸地與大氣相互作用的結(jié)果，這是由于太陽能電池板和風(fēng)力渦輪機(jī)造成了更粗糙和更黑暗的陸地表面。

【點(diǎn)石成金】本句是一個(gè)主從復(fù)合句，The?rainfall?increase?is...是主句，that?occur是限制性定語從句，關(guān)系代詞that代替先行詞land?atmosphere?interactions，在從句中作主語，because?solar?panels?and?wind?turbines...是原因狀語從句。

Ⅱ.?Text?centered?chunks

set?up?建立;設(shè)立;創(chuàng)立

in?turn?反過來;依次;輪流

lead?to?導(dǎo)致;通向

respond?to?對(duì)……作出反應(yīng)

have?a?positive?effect?on?對(duì)……有積極的影響

on?average?平均