Farming and the risk of flash droughts

山東 顧 芳

突發性干旱發展迅速，甚至可以摧毀一個地區的農業。

主題語境：自然環境 篇幅：359詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1Flash droughts develop fast, and when they hit at the wrong time, they can ruin a region's agriculture.They're also becoming increasingly common as the planet warms.In a study published in the journalCommunications Earth & Environment, we found that the risk of flash droughts, which can develop in the span of a few weeks, is on pace to rise in every major agricultural region around the world in the coming decades.

2In North America and Europe, cropland that had a 32% annual chance of a flash drought a few years ago could have a greater chance of a flash drought by the final decades of this century.That result would put food production, energy, and water supplies under increasing pressure.The cost of ravage will also rise.A flash drought in the Dakotas and Montana in 2017 caused $2.6 billion in agricultural damage in America alone.

3All droughts begin when rainfall stops.What's interesting about flash droughts is how fast they reinforce (加強) themselves, with some help from the warming climate.When the weather is hot and dry, soil loses moisture rapidly.Dry air extracts moisture from the land, and rising temperatures can increase this evaporative (蒸發的) demand.The lack of rain during a flash drought can further contribute to the feedback processes.Under these conditions, crops and vegetation begin to die much more quickly than they do during typical long-term droughts.

4In our study, we used climate models and data from the past 170 years to assess the drought risks ahead under three conditions for how quickly the world takes action to slow the pace of global warming.If greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, power plants, and other human sources continue at a high rate, we found that cropland in much of North America and Europe would have a 53% annual chance of flash droughts, respectively, by the final decades of this century.Globally, the largest projected increases in flash droughts would be in Europe and the Amazon.Slowing emissions can reduce the risk significantly,but we found flash droughts would still increase by about 6% worldwide under lowemission conditions.

Reading Check

1.What is the feature of flash droughts?

A.Seldom happen and badly beneficial.

B.Regularly happen and slightly harmful.

C.Suddenly happen but highly destructive.

D.Frequently happen and low risky.

2.What does the underlined word “ravage” mean in paragraph 2?

A.Change.B.Damage.C.Increase.D.Progress.

3.What's paragraph 4 mainly about?

A.How flash droughts develop.

B.Which continent is the safest.

C.Why we assess the drought risks.

D.Who are to blame for natural disasters.

4.How can humans help reduce flash droughts?

A.By studying climate models.

B.By speeding up global warming.

C.By changing cropland into forests.

D.By decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Language Study

Ⅰ.日積月累

hitv.到達(某地)；襲擊

extractv.提取

lackn.缺乏

vegetationn.植被

typicaladj.典型的

respectivelyadv.各自地；分別

projectedadj.預計的

in the span of 在……期間

under pressure 在壓力下

feedback process 反饋過程

Ⅱ.單句填空

1.You can learn more about flash droughts in the study ________ (publish) in the magazine.

2.With the weather getting hotter, soil becomes drier ________ (rapid).

3.The world should take action ________ (fight) against global warming.

4.The study is about flash droughts, ________ are common in the world.

5.________ interests us is that flash droughts can get themselves stronger.

6.Flash droughts are typical ________ developing fast but having bad impacts.