从樱花开放看气候变暖

Canopies of pink and white flowers are blanketing Washington, D.C., after the city's cherry trees hit full bloom last week.

上周华盛顿樱花盛开后,粉色和白色的花冠覆盖了整个华盛顿特区。

D.C.'s first cherry trees were a gift to the United States from Japan in 1912.

华盛顿特区美国的第一棵樱桃树是1912年日本送给美国的礼物。

In Kyoto, Japan, the cherry trees' peak bloom this year was the earliest on record in 1,200 years.

在日本京都,樱花树今年迎来了1200年来的最早的一次花期。

This follows a pattern of earlier and earlier blooms since the 1800s.

花期自19世纪以来就变得越来越早了。

This year's blossoms in D.C. peaked several days ahead of the 30-year average, according to The Washington Post.

据《华盛顿邮报》报道,今年华盛顿特区的樱花花期比30年平均水平早了几天。

Scientists warn that the blooms are just one sign of the greater looming climate crisis; earlier blooms can mean warmer springtime temperatures.

科学家们警告说,樱花的花期只是日益紧迫的气候危机的一个迹象;提早开花意味着春天温度会提前变暖。

Cherry trees need a full month of chilly weather below 41 degrees to properly blossom when it gets warmer, according to Naoko Abe, author of The Sakura Obsession. If they don't get that chilly weather, they blossom later because "they can't wake up properly," Abe says.

《樱迷》一书的作者阿部直子说,樱花要在华氏41度以下的寒冷天气里整整冻一个月,等到天气转暖后才能开花。如果没有寒冷的天气,它们就会晚些开花,因为“它们不能正常醒来,”阿部说。

"The impact from climate change is indisputable, I think," Abe tells us.

“我认为气候变化的影响是无可争议的,”阿倍告诉我们。

"However, the decisive factors for the cherry blossoms is the winter temperature."

“然而,樱花开放的决定性因素是冬天的气温。”

And while early blooms are caused by warm springs, delayed blooms could also be the result of warming winters — which is also troubling. Southern Japan has already seen some of these delayed blooms.

虽然早春开花是由暖春造成的,但晚开花也可能是暖冬的结果——这也令人担忧,日本南部已经出现了一些樱花延迟开放的现象。

Abe tells us that if winter temperatures continue to rise, the delays may grow to the point where trees don't blossom at all.

安倍告诉我们,如果冬季气温继续上升,这种延迟可能会长到樱花根本不开花的地步。

The trees planted in D.C. are Yoshino cherry trees, a variety that makes up about 70% of all cherry trees in Japan.

华盛顿种植的是吉野樱花树,这种树约占日本樱花树的70%。

They're easy to propagate and can start to blossom after only five years.

它们很容易繁殖,五年后就能开始开花。

However, Yoshinos are very susceptible to temperature change and disease.

然而,吉野樱花很容易受到温度变化和疾病的影响。

Abe warns that if we do not start to diversify cherry tree varieties, in a century we might not have cherry blossoms at any time of year.

安倍警告说,如果我们不开始让樱花品种多样化,一个世纪以后,我们可能在一年的任何时候都不会有樱花了。

Ever since Yoshinos garnered popularity in Japan in the 19th century, other cherry species were forgotten and went extinct.

自从19世纪吉野樱花在日本流行起来之后,其他的樱桃品种就被遗忘并灭绝了。

"We have to prevent that, and we can prevent that," she says.

她说:“我们必须预防,我们也能预防出现最坏的结果。”

"We have to start thinking differently and start thinking that the Yoshino cherries are not the only cherries."

“我们必须开始以不同的方式思考,开始意识到吉野樱桃并不是唯一的樱花树。”

问题

文中提到华盛顿的樱花树是哪一年由谁送的?

留言回复正确答案,前五名朋友可以获得红包奖励哦,赶快来试试吧!

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