環(huán)球英語 — 544：The Third Pole
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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Joshua Leo
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And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting it is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
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The north and south poles are two of the coldest places on earth. On the north and south ends of the earth, ice stretches out for kilometers. You have probably heard about how global climate change is affecting the poles. The ice is melting. Ocean levels are rising. The animals living in these areas are threatened. But the north and south poles are not the only places threatened by warming temperatures.
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North of the Himalayan Mountains there is a place people call the Third Pole. It is the Tibetan Plateau. This area of land is 2,500 kilometres wide. Most of this land is 4,500 metres above sea level. It is sometimes called the roof of the world because it is above most other places on earth.
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Mountains surround the plateau. Ice forms in the mountain valleys and on the plateau. This ice has collected over hundreds of years. It forms glaciers - huge rivers of ice. The glaciers move very slowly as they freeze and thaw. This movement formed many of the valleys and lakes in this region. And every year, the melting ice provides water to large areas of plants, animals, and people.
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But as temperatures around the world rise, there are problems at the Third Pole. To understand these problems, we must first look at the areas that depend on the Third Pole.
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The Tibetan plateau and the glaciers in the Himalayan Mountains provide water to more than two thousand million [2,000,000,000] people in Asia. Travelling farmers feed their animals on the grass that grows in these areas. The ice provides water to this grass. Three rivers start in the Tibetan Plateau: the Salween, the Mekong, and the Yangtze. The Yellow River gets nearly half of its water from the plateau.
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For hundreds of years, new ice formed as fast as old ice melted. The ice would melt in the spring and provide water to lakes and rivers. In the winter, snow would collect and form ice. But in the past fifty years, more ice is melting than snow is collecting. Temperatures at the Third Pole are rising much faster than other areas of the earth.
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The white snow and ice help to reflect the heat of the sun. The more snow and ice there is, the slower it melts. But as the snow melts, more dark land is uncovered. The rocks and dirt heat up in the light of the sun. This makes the ice melt faster.
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Barry Baker is a scientist. He studies these glaciers. He talks about the effect on people who live along the rivers that flow from the glaciers.
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"In Northwest Yunnan, we have the upper areas of the Yangtze river, the Mekong River, and the Salween and the Irrawaddy. These four rivers provide water to ten percent of the world's population. In these upper regions, they are mostly glacier-fed. So melting glaciers will have a large effect on water for a great many people. There will be more water for a while, but no one is sure what will happen after that."
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Lonnie Thompson says that this large amount of water has made the problem worse. He says that many people in Asia have built their cities, buildings, and lives around having a lot of water. For the past one hundred years, there has been enough water. But as the glaciers disappear, so will the water.
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This is already happening in some areas. Travelling farmers are having trouble feeding their animals. The lands where their animals ate grasses are now dry. The grasses have disappeared. The glaciers are gone. The water is gone. Less rain and snow fall each year. Some groups of farmers who raise large yak animals are having problems with their animals. These farmers used to start milking the yaks in May. But the climate changes have pushed the milking time to July. This affects how much money they can make in a year.
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Mrs Jiang lives in the village of Nuomuhong. Her house is in the middle of the desert. She says that she has seen the changes.
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"It has been getting hotter and hotter in recent years. Our water supply has slowly been drying up. Without that, it will be impossible to live here."
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Where the land is dry, dust storms are becoming a growing problem. In 2006 a strong sandstorm blew across a large part of China. The storm dropped over 300,000 tons of dust on Beijing.
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The problem of global warming and disappearing glaciers can not be easily solved. Much damage has already been done. So in China, the government is helping communities to change to deal with the problems.
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The government set goals to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released in to the air. They have promised money to support environmentally friendly products. The government has invested in research about the effects of climate change. The government is also helping environmental groups.
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The Nature Conservancy Group is working to establish a national park around one mountain. They have helped create an alternative energy project. This project will help people and businesses use energy sources that do not damage the environment.
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The Nature Conservancy also works with the government to protect forests and build buildings that use energy well. Doctor Baker works for the Nature Conservancy. He believes that China has the opportunity to do much better than Western countries, when it comes to climate change.
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"My personal opinion is that we have become separate from nature in the West. We do not understand how our daily life affects nature. We really need to take a good, long look at how we are using natural resources. We must take action to make changes happen."
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Doctor Baker believes that China cannot grow as a society in the same way that cities in the West grew. China has the ability to grow as a sustainable nation - a country that grows in ways that do not damage the environment. It has the chance to change the way it develops. But it will take everyone working together to make this happen.
