第59课Forest Fires a Major Disaster 森林大火：可怕的灾难(2016新增)

1、59. Forest Fires: a Major Disaster 森林大火：可怕的灾难 （2016 新增） 1. The United States Forest Service defines a wildfire as “any fire that bums uncontrolled in vegetative or associated flammable matter,”and it divides the causes of wildfire into nine general categories: lightning, campfire, smoking, debris bu

2、rning (fires from clearing land or from burning trash， range，stubble， meadow, rights-of-way, logging slash, etc.), incendiary (fires willfully set), equipment use (except railroad), railroad, children (under 12), and miscellaneous.1. 美国林务局如此定义山火：“任何在有植物或是相关的易燃物品上燃 烧并无法控制的火灾”。山火的 原因被分为九类：闪电、篝火、抽烟、废物燃

3、 烧（为了清除土地上的树木，或是燃烧垃圾、烧荒、开路、燃烧 植物断株和 砍伐剩余物等而引起的大火)、纵火（故意所为）、设备使用（不包括铁路火 车）、铁路、儿童（12 岁以下）以及其它。2. Wildfires in this country occur at the rate of hundreds per day, and they destroy tens of millions of acres of productive land in any given year. Direct damage to timber and property is reckoned in the hun

4、dreds of millions of dollars per year, but no monetary value can be assigned to the loss of human life and of wildlife that often accompanies wildfires. 2. 美国每天都有几百起的森林火灾发生，烧毁了几百万公顷的肥沃土地，对于伐木业和财产造成的损失 每年高达几百万美元，然而它对人类和野生动 物造成的生命损失是无法用金钱来衡量。3. Government statistics for a typical five-year period are

5、both interesting and revealing. They can be broken down to show many aspects of the wildfire problem, among them two which are especially significant: the leading causes of wildfire and the total acreage burned by wildfire. 3. 官方以五年为周期进行统计，其结果很有趣，也揭示了一些问题。这些 数字可以从多个方面展示森林 大火的问题，其中有两点非常关键：森林火灾 的主要原因以

6、及火灾烧毁的土地面积。 4. The two leading causes of wildfire, by regional groups, are as follows: Pacific Group lightning 22%; miscellaneous 18% Rocky Mountain Group lightning 40%; debris burning 12% North Central Group debris burning 32%; incendiary 20% Eastern Group children 27 %; incendiary 25 % Southern Gr

7、oup incendiary 39%; debris burning 26% 4. 森林火灾的两个主要原因如下，按照不同地区排列： 太平洋地区闪电22%;其他原因18% 落基山地区闪电40%,废弃物燃烧12% 中北部地区废弃物燃烧32%，纵火20% 东部地区儿童27%，纵火25% 南部地区纵火39%，废弃物燃烧26% 5. What ranks as a leading cause of wildfire in a region is not, however, always the cause of the greatest damage suffered by that region, a

8、s the following statistics will indicate. They show the total acreage burned, according to causes, in the same regions for the same five-year period: Pacific lightning 58%; incendiary 10%; miscellaneous 10%; equipment use 8% Rocky Mountain lightning 36%; equipment use 19%; miscellaneous 15%; debris

9、burning 11% North centralincendiary 40%; debris burning 21 %; lightning 12%; equipment use 7%; railroad 6%Easternincendiary 47%; debris burning 13%; miscellaneous 10%; children 8%; smoking 7%; railroads 7% Southern incendiary 54%; debris burning 21%; smoking 8% 5. 下面这些数字显示，某一地区最主要的山火原因并不一定就是损失最 大的原因

10、。在相同的五年期间， 不同原因的山火烧毁的面积为： 太平洋地区闪电58%;纵火10%;其他原因10%;设备使用8% 落基山地区闪电36%;设备使用19%; 其他原因15%;废气物燃烧11% 中北部地区纵火40%;废弃物燃烧21%;闪电12%;设备使用7%; 铁路6% 东部地区纵火47%;废弃物燃烧13%;其他原因10%;儿童8%;抽 烟7%;铁路7% 南部地区纵火54%;废弃物燃烧21%;吸烟8% 6. The great majority of forest fires especially in the East and South, are “surface fires,” burnin

11、g mostly in the duff or leaf litter on the forest floor. Promptly attacked with adequate manpower and equipment, such fires are fairly easy to control. But nearly every small forest fire is potentially a big one. If a combination of dry weather and high winds occurs, a forest fire may spread with ex

12、plosive violence, roaring through the trees faster than a man can run, generating waves of heat and gas that fan the flames to even greater fury. A really bad forest fire is a terrifying thing. It will destroy nearly everything in its path. 6. 东部和南部地区绝大多数的森林火灾都属于“表面火灾”，即森林表面 的陈年落叶的燃烧。如果有足 够的人力和设备，迅速

13、处理就可以很快控制火 势。但每一次小的火灾都有可能发展成大火。如果再碰上干旱的 天气和大风， 山火就会猛烈地蔓延，它咆哮在树林间，蔓延的速度远远超过人的移动速度， 产生的灼热气浪 又会引发更大的火势。凶猛的森林火灾非常可怕，它所及之处一切都被毁灭。 7. That was what happened when the Peshtigo fire in Wisconsin in 1871 wiped out whole settlements and killed 1,500 persons; when the great Idaho fires of 1910 wiped our severa

14、l million acres of virgin timber in a few days. It happened when the Tillamook fire in Oregon in 1933 killed as much timber as was cut in the entire United States the preceding year. It happened in Maine in 1947 when forest fires destroyed more than 800 homes. And it5s still happening today. A serie

15、s of dry years recently provided the fuel for some of the most devastating forest fires in our history, particularly in the western part of the country. 7. 1871年发生在威斯康星州的佩什第革火灾就是如此，它烧毁了所有的居民区，使1500人丧生；1910 年的爱达荷州火灾在几天之内就烧毁了几百万公顷的原始树林；1933年发生在俄勒同州的提拉穆克火灾烧毁的树林相当于 上一年全美国的树林砍伐量；1947年发生在緬因州的火灾毁灭了 800个家庭。

16、今天这些灾难仍 在发生。连续几年的干旱为有史以来破坏性最大的火灾提供 了机会，尤其是在西部地区。 8. A surface fire, consuming the dry leaves, grass, twigs, and underbrush on the forest floor, may not kill outright many of the larger trees, but it will kill seedlings and small trees. Most fires start as surface fires but may develop into other typ

17、es. 8. 地表火燃烧的是森林表面的干树叶、野草、小树枝和矮树丛，不会对 大树造成重大损伤，但它仍然会 伤及籽苗和小树。大部分的火灾都是从地表 开始，往往会发展成其他类型的火灾。 9. Sometimes fires bum deep below the surface in the thick duff of decayed leaves or needles, or in muck soils that have become dry. Giving off very little smoke between surface outbreaks, such Aground fires95

18、 may smolder for days or weeks before being discovered, and it is difficult to know when they may safely be declared out. Ground fires are common in northern forest regions. These fires usually kill most of the trees in their way, for although they bum slowly they generate great heat beneath the sur

19、face. 9. 有时，厚厚的腐叶和针叶层或是干燥的腐殖土层下面会有火灾发生， 仅仅从表面的裂缝中冒出少量的 烟。这种地下火在被发现之前可能会闷烧几 天甚至几个星期。地下火在北部森林地区非常普遍，尽管它们燃烧 非常缓慢， 但却能在表面之下产生很大的热量，从而导致树木的死亡。 10. It is usually the “crown fire，” or combined surface and crown fire, that causes the greatest timber and property damage, and loss of human life. Such a fire i

20、s usually the outgrowth of a surface fire which, driven by a strong wind, leaps into the tree tops and sweeps through the timber, often even jumping across open fields or large rivers. Crown fires occur mostly in coniferous forests, for the green leaves of hardwoods are not easily ignited. These fir

21、es may, however, run through forests of mixed hardwoods and conifers. Usually they create showers of flying embers which set fires far in advance. Crown fires may kill all the trees over wide areas; they may destroy farm homes and towns. 10. 造成巨大的森林和财产损失，以及生命损失的是树冠火，或地表和树 冠火的结合。这种火灾一般是从 地表火开始，在大风的作用

22、之下，很快窜上 树顶，在树木间传播，甚至能跨过开阔地带甚至河流。树冠火在针 叶林中多 有发生，因为阔叶木的绿叶不容易着火。然而，这种火很容易在阔叶林和针 叶林中蔓延，还会产生 大量的余火漫天飞扬，从而引发远处的火灾。树冠火 可能会烧毁大面积范围内所有的树木，甚至毁坏农舍和村 镇。 11. Losses of merchantable timber and property are direct, tangible, and readily apparent. Forest fires, however, cause many damages not so easily recognized.

23、Fire may kill the tiny young trees in aforest and so destroy the mature timber crop of 20, 50, or 100 years hence. Fire may alter the character of a forest. As a result of fire, for example, a forest in which valuable pines or spruces predominated may in time become mostly a scrubby growth of inferi

24、or species. Repeated fires have turned many millions of acres of forest land in the United States into unproductive wasteland. 11. 财产和商业木材的损失是有形的、显而易见。然而森林火灾还会造成 许多不容易辨别的损失。它会烧 毁小树苗，从而影响了 20年、50年甚至100 年后的木材生产。大火会改变森林的特性，例如：一片以珍贵松 木和杉木为 主要树种的森林可能会变成只有次级树种的矮小灌木林。经过多次山火之后， 美国大地上几百万 公顷的森林都变成了贫瘠的荒地。 12.

25、Even a small, smoldering surface fire may leave fire scars on the trunks of trees, where wood rots may enter. Fire-weakened trees may be attacked by insects, or more easily felled by the wind. 12. 即使是无明火的小地表火都可能在树干上留下伤疤，从而引起树木的 腐烂；被火烧过的树木极容易生 虫害，或被大风刮倒。 13. Most wildfire occurs in forested areas, bu

26、t substantial fire damage is done each year to watershed areas as well. Storm runoff is greatly accelerated when fires bum the vegetation and surface litter on steep slopes, and flooding is often a direct result. Tragic loss of lives and damage in the millions are frequently attributable to the earl

27、ier burning of a watershed area. Watershed technicians find that much water would have been held back until after the flood peaks had passed if watersheds had not been depleted of their plant and forest covers, mainly by forest fires. 13. 大部分的山火发生在林区，但也会对分水岭地区造成危害。如果山火 破坏了植被和地表落叶层，暴雨 径流就会加速从而直接导致山洪暴

28、发，进一 步造成生命和百万美元的财产损失。技术人员发现如果分水岭地区 的森林植 被没有被山火破坏的话，洪峰过去之后，洪水应该能够被抑制住。 14. Fires have impaired the ability of watersheds in many parts of the United States to absorb rainfall and hold back ranoff. Along with unwise land clearing and other watershed abuses, fire is responsible for a vast amount of flo

29、od damage, for aggravated problems of water supply, and for the silting of reservoirs, stream channels, and harbors with millions of tons of sediment eroded from the land. 14. 山火使得美国许多地区的分水岭功能受到影响，失去涵养雨水阻碍径 流的能力。再加上不明智地开荒 以及对流域地区的滥用，山火实际上加重了 水灾的损失，导致水源供应的问题，水库、河道以及港口被百万吨 的淤泥淤堵。 15. Forest fires kill many game animals and birds. Wood ashes washed into streams after a firesometimes kill large numbers of fish. Destruction of the vegetation along stream banks may cause water temperatures to rise and make the stream unfit for trout. Sed