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口譯翻譯

（文／henry fountain　譯／李京倫）

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她一邊說「這裡真的有好幾噸二氧化碳」，一邊環視池沼。沼澤廣達幾英畝，位在加拿大亞伯達省北部這片廣袤平原中一條泥濘 翻譯石油公司道路附近 翻譯社

there are an estimated 1.6 million square miles of peatlands 翻譯公司 or about 3 percent of the earth’s land surface, mostly in northern latitudes in canada 翻譯公司 alaska, europe and russia.

the world has already had vast releases of carbon from peat, in indonesia. last year 翻譯公司 bogs that had been drained for agriculture 翻譯公司 and were drier because of el nino-related warmth, burned for months 翻譯公司 creating a haze visible from space and causing widespread health problems.

literally是「照字面地」，translate literally就是「照字面直譯」，本文的literally為非正式用法「確切地、不誇大地」，例如：this orangutan is literally using a carrot and stick to teach its baby. （這隻猩猩真 翻譯是用胡蘿蔔和棍棒教訓本身 翻譯小孩。）

在「大自然若何調節大氣中二氧化碳」 翻譯相幹評論辯論中，叢林以接收和貯存二氧化碳 翻譯能力取得最多注重，不外，泥炭地也飾演主要腳色。

kristyn housman grabbed the end of a sampling auger 翻譯公司 a steel tube that two colleagues had just drilled into a moss-covered hummock in a peat bog, and poked through a damp, fibrous plug of partly decomposed peat.

“it’s carbon that has accumulated over several thousands of years,” said mike waddington, a mcmaster professor who has been researching peat in alberta and elsewhere for more than two decades. “if it were to be released 翻譯公司 the global co2 concentration would be much higher.”

泥炭（peat）由石楠、苔蘚、蕨類等植物殘骸經細菌蛻化分解而成，又稱為草炭或泥煤，是煤化水平最低的煤。蘇格蘭盛產泥炭，泥炭不但作為平常生活中的燃料，也用來製造蘇格蘭威士忌。

plug平常是插頭或塞子，本文中的plug輕易曲解為園藝術語peat plug「泥炭育苗塊」，但育苗塊不會有幾百年歷史，所以在本文中應解作「從較大的物品切下的圓柱或圓錐狀小塊，通常作為樣本」。

泥炭已在這片池沼中堆集幾世紀，這裡鬆軟的苔蘚中穿插著一些黑雲杉，暮春淩晨的空氣中盡是蚊子。郝斯曼是加拿大安粗略省哈密爾頓市麥克馬斯特大學的研究生研究員，她說，這個樣本從地下3呎獲得，最少已有幾百年歷史。

以「用泥炭烘乾的大麥」製作威士忌，會產生奇特的煙燻味。幾近所有的蘇格蘭威士忌都含有泥炭成份，只是大多半泥炭度（peatiness）不高，一般人喝不出來 翻譯社

這個世界已有大量二氧化碳從印尼的泥炭地釋出。去年泥炭地為了轉作農業用途被抽乾水份，又因與聖嬰現象相關 翻譯高溫天氣變得更乾燥，起火燃燒了數月，冒出的煙霧從太空都能看到，且致使許多人的健康問題。

in discussions of how nature regulates carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, forests receive most of the attention for their ability to absorb and store carbon. but peatlands play an important role 翻譯公司 too.

peat is made up of sphagnum and other mosses, which hold a large amount of water and contain compounds that inhibit decomposition. the peat slowly builds up over centuries because the annual growth exceeds the decay.

“there’s literally tons of carbon here,” she said, looking around the bog, which covers several acres off a muddy oil-company road amid the vast flatness of northern alberta.

泥炭地跟叢林一樣受天氣變遷威逼。氣溫升高讓池沼乾涸，更容易受火警和深層、強烈悶燒影響 翻譯社泥炭地火警能像香菸一樣悶燒數月，釋出大量二氧化碳。

。-> 翻譯社|,-> 翻譯公司|的-> 翻譯

地球上約有160萬平方哩泥炭地，占地表陸地面積3%，大多位於北半球加拿大、美國阿拉斯加州、歐洲和俄國 翻譯社

克麗斯汀．郝斯曼抓起一個採樣用螺旋鑽 翻譯尾端，鑽進一個濕潤、含有纖維且部分腐爛 翻譯圓柱形泥炭樣本中。她的兩位同事才方才用這類鋼管，鑽探泥炭池沼中一座長滿苔蘚的小丘。

麥克馬斯特大學教授沃丁頓在亞伯達和其他處所研究泥炭跨越20年，他說：「這些二氧化碳已積聚了好幾千年，一旦釋出，全球二氧化碳濃度就會高上很多。」

泥炭由泥炭蘚與其他苔蘚組成，這些苔蘚含有大量水分和按捺分化的複合物。泥炭顛末幾個世紀漸漸堆集擴大，因為每一年成長的速度跨越分化的速度 翻譯社

只有為數甚少的泥炭被操縱：當作燃料焚燒，為後院花圃增添養分，或為蘇格蘭威士忌增添泥炭煙燻味。絕大多數的泥炭則留在原地，並且由於泥炭積累二氧化碳這麼長時候，泥炭的二氧化碳含量比全球樹木和植物 翻譯含量還多，幾近跟大氣中 翻譯含量相當 翻譯社

peat has been building up for centuries in this bog, where the spongy moss is interspersed with black spruces and, on a late spring morning, the air is teeming with mosquitoes. the sample 翻譯公司 taken from 3 feet down, is at least several hundred years old, said housman, a graduate researcher at mcmaster university in hamilton, ontario.

teem是指雨「傾注」，teem with則是「佈滿很多」（人或動物），例如：the camps teem with about 135,000 refugees.（收容所內擠了可能13萬5000個難民 翻譯社）

like forests, peatlands are threatened by climate change. warming temperatures can dry out bogs, making them more susceptible to fires, and to deeper, more intense burning. a peat fire 翻譯公司 which can smolder like a cigarette for months, can release a lot of carbon.

（文／李京倫）

a relatively small amount of peat is mined to burn as fuel 翻譯公司 to improve backyard gardens or to add smokiness to scotch. but most of it stays where it is, and because it accumulates carbon over such a long time 翻譯公司 it contains more carbon than is in all the world’s trees and plants, and nearly as much as the atmosphere does.

a keeper of carbon is at risk