Urban poor hit hardest as the planet heats up

by Ian Round, etc.

Heat radiates from the asphalt(柏油) and concrete that cover the streets, the sidewalks, the alleys(小巷), even the tiny yards behind the homes in the East Baltimore neighborhood of McElderry Park. Trees are scarce. And air doesn't move much when it comes up against block after block of rowhouses.

radiate / rv. 輻射、發射

concrete / n. 混凝土

sidewalk / n. 人行道(由side和walk組成)

Baltimore / n. 巴爾的摩(美國東北部城市)

neighborhood /  n. 住宅區

scarce /adj. 稀少的、稀有的

come up against 面臨、面對

rowhouse / n. 連排房屋(由row和house組成)

So as a dangerous 11-day heat wave tormented(折磨) the city in July, the hottest month ever recorded on the planet, fewer and fewer residents were going outside. "This is the quietest the block has ever been," said Tammy Jackson, 48. "I can't believe it."

record / v. 記錄、記載

resident /  n. 居民

But it is going to get worse. In McElderry Park and around the world, in communities rich and poor, downtown and in the suburbs, weather disasters loom. More and more people, including Delegate Robbyn Lewis, who represents parts of East Baltimore, are replacing the words "climate change" with stronger language. "We are," she said, "in an emergency."

community /n. 社區

downtown / adv. 在市中心

suburb / n. 郊區

disaster /n. 災害、災難

loom /v. (不好的東西)逼近

delegate / n. 代表(這里指州一級的眾議員)

represent / v. 代表

emergency / n. 緊急情況

Certain neighborhoods will continue to feel the effects of extreme temperatures more than others. Researchers at Portland State University in Oregon and the Science Museum of Virginia have mapped these areas, called urban heat islands, and data shows that temperatures here and in surrounding neighborhoods can run 4.5 degrees Celsius hotter than in communities that have more trees and less pavement. McElderry Park, which offers little green space despite its lyrical name, is one of these.

extreme / adj. 極端的

researcher /n. 研究者(由research加上表示人的后綴-er)

Oregon /n. 俄勒岡(美國西北部的州)

Virginia / n. 弗吉尼亞(美國東部的州)

map / v. 繪制…的地圖

urban / adj. 城市的

data / n. 數據

surrounding /adj. 周圍的

degree Celsius  攝氏度

pavement / n. (鋪平的)路面

lyrical / adj. 歌詞般好聽的

Residents in the hottest areas have higher rates of chronic illnesses affected by heat, including asthma(哮喘) and COPD(慢性阻塞性肺病). In hot weather, emergency medical calls for some chronic conditions increase. The rate of emergency medical calls for cardiac arrest and congestive heart failure, for example, nearly double when the heat index hits 39.5 degrees.

rate /n. 率、比率

chronic / adj. 慢性的、長期的

affect /v. 影響

medical / adj. 醫療的

condition /n. 疾病

cardiac / arrest /rest/ 心跳停止

congestive / heart failure 充血性心衰

index / n. 指數(heat index指體感溫度)

hit /v. 達到

Reporters from the University of Maryland's Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and Capital News Service placed sensors that record heat and humidity inside several homes in McElderry Park and nearby neighborhoods. Those sensors recorded temperatures that reached as high as 36 degrees and heat index values of 48 degrees. In some homes, those readings showed that it was hotter inside than outside.

Maryland / n. 馬里蘭(美國東部的州)

investigative / adj. 調查性的(由investigate加后綴-ive變成形容詞)

journalism /  n. 新聞學

place /v. 放置

sensor / n. 傳感器

humidity / n. 濕度(由humid加后綴-ity變成名詞)

reading / n. (儀表的)讀數

Households in the city's hottest areas have lower incomes, which means the residents don't have the resources to move out. This is true across the country. In a majority of the country's most populous(人口眾多的) cities, people with lower incomes typically lived in the hottest areas, an investigation by journalists from NPR and the University of Maryland found.

household /  n. 家庭

income /n. 收入

resource / n. 資源

majority / n. 大多數(由major加后綴-ity變成名詞)

typically /  adv. 往往、常常

investigation / n. 調查研究(由investigate加后綴-ion變成名詞)

journalist / n. 記者

NPR =National Public Radio (美國)公共廣播電臺

Sacoby Wilson, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, says people in low-income neighborhoods walk more, ride more buses and drive fewer cars, so they contribute less to climate change. And yet they are more vulnerable to dying in extreme heat. "Environmental justice and climate change," he said, "are inextricably(密不可分地) linked."

contribute /v. 做貢獻、出力

yet /jet/ conj. 但是、然而

vulnerable / adj. 易受傷害的

environmental / adj. 環境的(由environment加后綴-al變成形容詞)

justice /  n. 公平

link / v. 連接、聯系

英文原文節選自ABC New