Did you know that we are now offering a new weekly extra episode of 6 Minute English exclusively on our website?

你知道嗎？現在每週在官網有獨家提供一集額外的 6 分鐘英語喔。

So go to bbclearninenglish.com to find your favorite presenters on your favorite program.

請上 bbclearninenglish.com 找尋你最喜歡的節目及主持人。

The extra episodes are only available on our website:

額外的集數只有在官網：

bbclearningenglish.com. See you there!

bbclearningenglish.com 上才能觀看。在那裡見!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

嗨。這是 BBC 學英語的 6 分鐘英語。

I'm Neil.

我是尼爾。

And I'm Sam.

而我是山姆。

"No one is too small to make a difference."

「無論你多渺小，都能做出改變。」

Do you know who said that, Sam?

你知道是誰說的嗎，山姆？

Wasn't it climate change activist, Greta Thunberg?

難道不是氣候變遷倡議者，格蕾塔·童貝里？

That's right. She went on to say this in her message to world leaders: "I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to act as if your house is on fire. Because it is."

沒錯。她在致辭時對世界領導人們說「我不希望你們懷抱希望，我要你們表現得像你的房子著火了一樣，因為那就是現在的情況。」

Her speech reflected the feelings of many young people around the world who think that not enough action is being taken on climate change.

她的發言反映了世界各地許多年輕人的感受，認為我們對氣候變遷並沒有採取足夠的措施。

And they may be right, judging by the record-breaking temperatures that hit Canada and the north-west of the United States in July this year.

而以今年 7 月加拿大及美國西北部破紀錄的高溫來看，他們可能是對的。

Greta Thunberg's plea "to act like your house is on fire" became a reality for residents of the small town of Lytton, Canada which burned to the ground in a shocking wildfire - a fire that is burning strongly and out of control.

格蕾塔·童貝里「像你自己的房子著火了一樣採取行動」的訴求，對加拿大利頓小鎮的居民來說，已成為事實。 利頓小鎮在一場失控的野火中被燒為平地。

So, was the Lytton wildfire yet another climate change wake-up call?

那麼，利頓的野火是否是另一個氣候變化的警醒？

A wake-up call is the expression used to describe a shocking event that should make people realize that action is needed to change something.

警醒指的是令人震驚、能讓人們意識到自己需要採取行動，做出改變的事件。

Maybe not, according to some climatologists who, worryingly, say that what happened in Lytton should not even have been possible.

也許不是，根據氣候學家所言，令人擔憂的是，利頓的野火照理來說不該發生。

So in this program, we'll be asking if scientists have dangerously misunderstood the realities of climate change.

在這個節目中，我們將訪問科學家們，了解他們是否對氣候變遷現況有所誤解。

But first it's time for my quiz question and it's about that extreme weather in Canada.

但首先，提問時間！這次的問題有關加拿大的極端氣候。

It broke records when the temperature in Lytton hit an all-time high on 1st July - but just how hot did it get?

利頓 7 月 1 日的氣溫創歷史新高，但溫度到底有多高？

Was it:

選項有：

a) 39 point 6 degrees?

a) 39.6 度？

b) 49 point 6 degrees?

b) 49.6 度？

or c) 59 point 6 degrees Celsius?

還是 c) 59.6 度？

All those temperature look really high, especially for snowy Canada.

所有選項看起來溫度都很高，特別對時常下雪的加拿大而言。

I'll say a) 39 point 6 degree C.

我選 a) 39.6 度。

OK, Sam, we'll find out the answer later on.

好的，山姆，我們等下會揭曉答案。

Seeing your hometown burn to the ground is bad enough, but perhaps even worst was the fact that the wildfires were so unexpected.

眼看家鄉被燒成一片廢墟已經糟透了，遑論是無預警的野火。

According to weather pattern modeling done by a team of Oxford University researchers, such extreme heat was impossible - in theory, at least.

根據牛津大學研究人員所做的氣後模擬，這樣的極端高溫是不可能的 -- 至少理論上而言。

The research team was led by climatologist, Geert Jan van Oldenborgh.

該研究小組由氣候學家 Geert Jan van Oldenborgh 領導。

Here he is in conversation with BBC World Service program, Science in Action:

這是他在 BBC 國際頻道 -- 科學在行動中的談話。

This is a wake-up call beyond the wake-up calls that we've had before.

這是個超越過往所有警訊的警醒。

Yes, and it's a very big shock in the sense that we thought we knew how heatwaves react to global warming and within which boundaries they're increasing (of course they're increasing in temperature)

是的，這是一個非常大的衝擊，我們以為我們知全球暖化對道熱浪的影響，以及升溫的範圍（當然溫度一定是會上升的），

but it's a gradual process we thought, and then you get this thing, and it's not gradual at all - it's a huge jump!

但我們以為這是個循序漸進的過程，然而事情就突然發生了，完全沒有依循規律 - 這是個巨大的變動!

Professor Van Oldenborgh had been studying the impact of global warming on heatwaves - short periods of time when the weather is much hotter than usual.

Van Oldenborgh 教授一直在研究全球暖化對熱浪，也就是短期內溫度急遽升高的影響。

Along with other climatologists, he thought that climate change was gradual - changing or happening slowly, over a long period of time.

他和其他氣候學家以為，氣候變遷是長時間逐漸轉變，或緩慢發生的。

But the Canadian heatwaves caused him to think again.

但加拿大的熱浪使他重新思考這個理論。

Instead of being gradual the temperatures saw a jump, or a sudden increase, of five degrees.

不是漸進式升溫，加拿大的溫度突然躍升，急遽增長了五度。

And it's this sudden jump that‘s got Professor Van Oldenborgh and his team worried.

這種突然的躍升，讓 Van Oldenborgh 教授和他的團隊十分憂心。

By collecting data from all over the world climatologists try to predict changes in the pattern of global warming.

通過收集所有的數據，世界各地的氣候學家們試圖預測在全球變暖的模式。

But, as Geert Jan van Oldenborgh told BBC World Service's, Science in Action, the heatwave in Lytton didn't fit these predictions at all:

但正如 Geert Jan van Oldenborgh 於 BBC 世界頻道的 - 科學在行動所言，利頓的熱浪並不符合預測。

Everything looked like a nice regular gradual trend like we were used to up to last year and then you suddenly break all your records by four or five degrees.

一切看起來都像以往規律漸進的趨勢，直到突然 4 或 5 度的升溫打破了記錄。

I mean, this is something that's no supposed to happen and it has really shaken our confidence in how well we understand the effect of climate change on heatwaves.

我的意思是，這不該發生的情況，真的動搖了我們對氣候變遷如何影響熱浪的暸解。

Despite all his research, Professor Van Oldenborgh is still unable to explain such extreme and sudden changes in the climate - and this, he says, has shaken his confidence - made him doubt something that he was certain was true.

儘管做了很多研究，Van Oldenborgh 教授仍無法解釋這種極端氣候變化。就像他說的，這已動搖了他的信心，使他懷疑過往堅信的想法。

And it's this lack of understanding worrying researchers because, as the story of the town of Lytton shows, the effects of climate change may be even worse than expected.

而正是這種缺乏瞭解，令人研究人員擔憂。就像利頓小鎮事件所顯示的，氣候變遷可能比預期的更嚴重。

Maybe it's time we all took notice of Greta Thunberg's wake-up call to take action on climate change.

也許現在是時候聽取格蕾塔·童貝里的警醒，開始對氣候變遷採取行動。

Especially if even cold, northern countries like Canada, or Britain for that matter, can experience such extreme changes.

特別是連寒冷的加拿大或英國，等北方國家，都經歷了這種極端氣候。

Speaking of which, Neil, what was the answer to your quiz question?

說到極端氣候，尼爾，你提問的答案是什麼？

Ah yes, in my quiz question I asked you exactly how high the temperature reached in the Canadian town of Lytton.

啊，是的，我問你加拿大利頓小鎮的高溫到底達到多高。

What did you say, Sam?

你的答案是什麼，山姆？

I thought it was a) 39 point 6 degrees Celsius.

我選 a) 39.6 度。

Was I right?

我答對了嗎？

Well, you were close but, in fact, it got even hotter, actually reaching 49 point 6 degrees Celsius - the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada by at least 5 degrees!

很接近，但其實溫度更高，實際上高溫達到了 49.6 度，有史以來的最高溫，比過往溫度至少高 5 度!

Phew! That's hot.

呼！的確很熱。

Well, we'd better recap the vocabulary from this program because we might be hearing these words a lot more in the future!

我們來溫習一下今天節目中提到的詞彙，因為將來可能會常常聽到它們。

Let's start with a wildfire which is an out-of-control fire that is burning the countryside.

從「野火」開始，野火是一種好發於鄉村，失控的火災。

A wake-up call is an event which should make people realize that action needs to be taken to change a situation.

「警醒」是使人們意識到需要為改變現狀而採取行動的事件。

A heatwave is a period of days or weeks when the weather is much hotter than usual.

「熱浪」是指短時間內溫度急遽升高。

A jump is a sudden increase.

「躍升」是指突然增漲。

Whereas gradual means happening slowly, over a long time.

而「漸進」指的是慢慢地，在很長一段時間內逐漸發生。

And finally, if something shakes your confidence, it makes you doubt something that you thought was true.

最後，如果有什麼「動搖」你的信心，就是它使你懷疑已認知的事實。

That's it for our look at one of the hottest years on record.

這就是本集帶您看到的史上最熱的一年。

Bye for now!

再會！

Bye!

掰掰！