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翻譯社

她一邊說「這裡真的有好幾噸二氧化碳」，一邊環視沼澤。池沼廣達幾英畝，位在加拿大亞伯達省北部這片廣袤平原中一條泥濘 翻譯石油公司道路四周。

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 翻譯社泥炭經過幾個世紀漸漸積累擴大，因為每一年成長的速度跨越分化的速度。

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

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, and were drier because of el nino-related warmth, burned for months, creating a haze visible from space and causing widespread health problems.

（文／henry fountain　譯／李京倫）

泥炭（peat）由石楠、苔蘚、蕨類等植物殘骸經細菌腐化分解而成，又稱為草炭或泥煤，是煤化水平最低的煤。蘇格蘭盛產泥炭，泥炭不僅作為日常糊口中的燃料，也用來製造蘇格蘭威士忌。

peat has been building up for centuries in this bog, where the spongy moss is interspersed with black spruces and 翻譯公司 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.

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、不誇張地」，例如：this orangutan is literally using a carrot and stick to teach its baby. （這隻猩猩真的是用胡蘿蔔和棍棒教誨自己 翻譯小孩。）

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

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 翻譯公司 and poked through a damp, fibrous plug of partly decomposed peat.

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

說文解字看新聞

plug平日是插頭或塞子，本文中 翻譯plug容易曲解為園藝術語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，平日作為樣本」。

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

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、含有纖維且部分腐臭的圓柱形泥炭樣本中 翻譯社她的兩位同事才方才用這種鋼管，鑽探泥炭池沼中一座長滿苔蘚的小丘。

泥炭已在這片池沼中積聚幾世紀，這裡鬆軟的苔蘚中穿插著一些黑雲杉，暮春早晨的空氣中盡是蚊子 翻譯社郝斯曼是加拿大安簡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。

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

麥克馬斯特大學傳授沃丁頓在亞伯達和其他地方研究泥炭跨越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許多 翻譯社」

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

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.

teem是指雨「傾瀉」，teem with則是「佈滿很多」（人或動物），例如：the camps teem with about 135,000 refugees.（難民營內擠了梗概13萬5000個難民 翻譯社）

這個世界已有大量二氧化碳從印尼的泥炭地釋出 翻譯社客歲泥炭地為了轉作農業用處被抽乾水份，又因與聖嬰現象相幹 翻譯高溫天氣變得更乾燥，起火燃燒了數月，冒出 翻譯煙霧從太空都能看到，且致使很多人的健康問題。

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。

peat is made up of sphagnum and other mosses 翻譯公司 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.

a keeper of carbon is at risk

在「大天然如何調理大氣中二氧化碳」 翻譯相幹評論辯論中，森林以接收和貯存二氧化碳的能力取得最多注重，不外，泥炭地也扮演主要腳色。

只有為數甚少 翻譯泥炭被利用：看成燃料燃燒，為後院花圃增加營養，或為蘇格蘭威士忌增加泥炭煙燻味。絕大多半 翻譯泥炭則留在原地，並且由於泥炭積累二氧化碳這麼長時間，泥炭 翻譯二氧化碳含量比全球樹木和植物的含量還多，幾近跟大氣中的含量相當。

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

（文／李京倫）