研究：全球气温升高2度，世界的四分之一将变沙漠

　　An increase of just 2°C (3.6°F) in global temperatures could make the world considerably drier and more desert-like, new research has warned.

　　一项最新研究警告，全球气温仅升高2摄氏度(3.6华氏度)，干旱程度就会显著增加，使地球荒漠化程度加剧。

　　More than a quarter of the world’s land surface, home to more than 1.5 billion people, would become more arid and droughts and wildfires could be widespread.

　　届时，超过四分之一的陆地表面(15多亿人口的家园)将会更加干旱荒芜，野火肆虐。

　　Limiting global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) would dramatically reduce the percentage of the Earth’s surface affected, scientists found.

　　科学家发现，将全球气候变暖升温控制在1.5摄氏度以内(2.7华氏度)将显著降低地球表面受影响的比例。

　　Aridity is a measure of the dryness of the land surface, obtained from combining precipitation and evaporation.

　　干燥度是衡量地表干燥程度的一项指标，通过综合衡量降水量和蒸发量得出。

　　Aridification would emerge over 20 to 30 per cent of the world’s land surface by the time the global temperature change reaches 2?C (3.6?F)’, said Dr Manoj Joshi from the University of East Anglia’s School of Environmental Sciences and one of the study’s co-authors.

　　这项研究报告的合著者、东安格利亚大学环境科学学院的马努基.乔西博士说：“如果地球升温2摄氏度(3.6华氏度)，20%到30%的地表会干旱化。”

　　The research team studied projections from 27 global climate models and identified areas of the world where aridity will substantially change.

　　研究小组对27个全球气候模型进行了推算，确定出严重受到干旱影响的地区。

　　The areas most affected areas are parts of South East Asia, Southern Europe, Southern Africa, Central America and Southern Australia.

　　受影响最大的区域有东南亚、欧洲南部、非洲南部、中美洲和南澳的部分地区。

　　These areas are home to more than 20 per cent of the world’s population - that’s over 1.5 billion people.

　　这些地区的人口占全球人口的20%以上——15多亿人。

　　The study looked at the current rate of global temperature increase and compared it to data from before the industrial revolution.

　　研究审视了目前全球温度上升的速度，并将之与工业革命之前的数据进行对比。

　　The world has already warmed by 1°C (1.8°F) since then.

　　自那时起，地球温度已经上升了1摄氏度(1.8华氏度)。

　　Two thirds of the affected regions could avoid significant aridification if warming is limited to 1.5?C (2.7°F), researchers found.

　　研究人员发现，如果升温控制在1.5摄氏度(2.7华氏度)以内，三分之二的受影响地区将免遭严重干旱化。

　　The Paris Agreement, which was first signed in 2015, it is an international agreement to control climate change.

　　2015年首次签署的《巴黎气候协定》是一份控制气候变化的国际协议。

　　It hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C (3.6?F) ’and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C (2.7°F)’.

　　该协定希望将全球平均增温控制在2摄氏度(3.6华氏度)以下，并努力将增温控制在1.5摄氏度(2.7华氏度)以下。

　　It seems the more ambitious goal of restricting global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) may be more important than ever, according to the new findings.

　　根据这项新的发现，这个更具挑战性的目标——将增温控制在1.5摄氏度(2.7华氏度)以下，看起来比以往任何时候都要重要。

　　In June, President Trump announced his intention for the US, the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, to withdraw from the agreement.

　　今年6月，美国总统特朗普宣布，全球第二大温室气体排放国美国将退出该协议。

　　A drier world may become a reality and the horrific scenes of the Californian wildfires may become more common.

　　地球更干旱可能将成为一个现实，加州山火的可怕景象会日益普遍。

　　The fire scorched more than 440 square miles of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and destroyed more than 1,000 structures after breaking out in early December.

　　去年12月初爆发的这起山火烧焦了文图拉市和圣巴巴拉市超过440平方英里的土地，毁掉了超过1000座建筑。

　　Drought is one of the biggest concerns in some parts of the world, where rainfall is rare and water scarce.

　　干旱是全球一些地区最大的担忧之一，这些缺水地区干旱少雨。

　　Some parts of Kenya, for example, can go an entire year without a drop of rain.

　　比如，肯尼亚的部分地区可能全年无雨。

　　The research was published in Nature Climate Change.

　　这项研究结果发表在《自然气候变化》期刊上。