VOA慢速英语:Are Rising Temperatures to Blame for Typhoon Haiyan?

The Philippine government is defending its efforts to get assistance to victims of Typhoon Haiyan. Many have received little or no assistance since the storm struck a week ago. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said Friday in the city of Tacloban that the need is massive, immediate and not everyone can be reached.
菲律宾政府正全力救助台风海燕受害者，从一周前这场风暴袭击菲律宾以来，许多人只获得很少甚至未能获得援助。内政部长Mar Roxas周五在塔克洛班市表示人们急需大量援助，但并非每个人都能得到援助。

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other US Navy ships arrived in the Philippines this week to help with disaster relief operations. The ships brought helicopters and emergency aid.
本周，美国航空母舰乔治•华盛顿号和其它海军军舰已经抵达菲律宾，以帮助救灾行动，这些船舶还带来了直升机和应急救援。

The Navy is deploying the helicopters to inspect damage from Typhoon Haiyan. The aircraft are also being used to transport supplies to affected communities. The aircraft carrier also has medical services and can produce 1.5 million liters of fresh water a day.
海军正部署直升机视察台风海燕的破坏情况，飞机也被用来向受影响社区运输物资。航母上有医疗服务，并可以每天能生产150万升淡水。

The storm displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The country's chief of disaster relief said Friday that at least 3,600 people are known to have died.
这场暴风雨让成千上万的人流离失所。该国主要救灾负责人周五表示，至少已经有3600人丧生。

The amount of food and other aid sent to the Philippines has increased in recent days. But moving the aid from airports or other areas has been a slow process, in part because wreckage blocks many roads.
最近几天，送往菲律宾的食品和其它救援物资都在增加。但是，将这些救援物资从机场或其它地方运走的过程是十分缓慢，部分原因是许多道路被残骸阻断。

Scientists say Typhoon Haiyan was one of the strongest storms on record ever to hit land. Some people wonder whether man-made climate change played a part in the typhoon. Bob Ward is with the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics.
科学家们称，台风海燕是有菲律宾史以来最强的风暴之一。有人怀疑人为气候变化是不是在台风中起到了一定作用。Bob Ward就职于伦敦经济学院的格兰瑟姆气候变化研究所。

"There's certainly strong circumstantial evidence because we know that the strength of tropical cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, depends very much on sea surface temperatures. They act as the fuel. And we've got very warm waters in the Pacific at the moment, which have been increasing because of climate change, and those very warm waters are what powered this typhoon."
“这一质疑肯定要有强大的旁证，因为我们都知道，热带气旋、飓风和台风的强度在很大程度上取决于海洋表面温度，它们起到了相当于燃料的作用。由于气候变化它们温度上升，此刻太平洋水域已经非常温暖，而这些温水造成了这次台风。”

Bob Ward says the intensity of storms seems to be increasing.
Bob Ward称，风暴的强度似乎在增加。
"Our models are not very clear at the moment. But we might expect in the future that we might even see fewer, but those that do occur will be much stronger than we're experiencing now."
“我们的模型此刻不是很清楚。预计未来我们甚至能看到的更少，但一旦发生，将远远强于我们现在经历的这场台风。”

Benedict Dempsey is with the aid group Save the Children. He says detailed weather predictions meant that some aid workers were already in place when the storm hit.
Benedict Dempsey就职于儿童救助会。他说，详细的天气预测意味着在风暴袭击时一些救援人员已经到位。

"Half a dozen people went into the path of the storm in order to be prepared for the response in Tacloban and elsewhere in the Philippines."
“6人走进了风暴的袭击路劲，以响应塔克洛班市和菲律宾其它地方的灾情。”

He says aid agencies are learning to prepare for natural disasters of this kind.
他说，救援机构正在学习应对这类自然灾害。

"Between around 2002 and 2011, on average over 260 million people a year are being affected by disasters. And so we're seeing the reality of these trends acting out on the ground, and it's absolutely something that we're having to prepare to respond to in the future."
“在2002年到2011年间，平均每年超过2.6亿人受到灾害的影响。所以我们看到了这种趋势的现实正在全球上演，这绝对是未来我们准备应对的。”

Benny Peiser is director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation. His group questions whether human activities are to blame for rising temperatures. He says people should be concerned about disaster preparation instead of cutting gases linked to climate change.
Benny Peiser是全球变暖政策基金会的负责人。他的研究小组质疑气温上升是否应该归咎于人类活动。他说，人们应该关注灾难应对，而不是减少和气候变化有关的气体排放。

"This was the 20th tropical storm to have hit the Philippines this year. So this is going to continue no matter what we decide on CO2, these storms will continue."
“这是今年袭击菲律宾的第20号热带风暴。因此，不管我们在二氧化碳排放上做何决定，这些风暴仍然继续。”

Climate change talks are taking place in Warsaw, Poland. At the talks, the Philippine representative appealed for an agreement to cut industrial gases like carbon dioxide. Scientist Bob Ward says the delegates should pay close attention.
气候变化谈判正在波兰的华沙举行。在会谈中，菲律宾代表呼吁达成一项协议以减少二氧化碳等工业气体的排放。科学家Bob Ward称，代表们应密切关注。

"I think this typhoon will focus minds very much on the fact that if we squabble and delay in getting an agreement, we're going to see more and more of these kind of events with very, very severe human costs."
“我认为，这次台风将让很多人开始关注这样一个事实，如果我们不断争论，延迟协议，我们将会看到越来越多这类人类伤亡惨重的事件。

But observers at the Warsaw talks say a deal on cutting greenhouse gases still appears to be far away.
但在华沙会谈的观察员们称，要达成削减温室气体排放的协议似乎仍很遥远。