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進入《中英對照讀新聞》Amazon Basin shifting to carbon emitter: study 研究︰亞馬遜盆地正轉變成二氧化碳的排放源
◎ 魏國金
The Amazon Basin, traditionally considered a bulwark against global warming, may be becoming a net contributor of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a result of deforestation, researchers said.
傳統上被認為是抗全球暖化堡壘的亞馬遜盆地，因為濫伐的後果，或許正變成二氧化碳（CO2）淨提供源，研究人員表示。
In an overview published in the journal Nature, scientists led by Eric Davidson of the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts say the Amazon is "in transition" as a result of human activity.
由麻州伍茲霍爾研究中心的戴維森所領導的科學家，在發表於「自然」期刊的研究概要中指出，亞馬遜因人為活動而「在轉變」。
Over 50 years, the population has risen from six million to 25 million, triggering massive land clearance for logging and agriculture, they said.
他們說，該區人口在50年間，從600萬攀升達2500萬人，促使大規模闢地，以進行伐木與農業。
The Amazon’s carbon budget--the amount of CO2 that it releases into the atmosphere or takes from it--is changing although it is hard to estimate accurately, they said.
亞馬遜的碳預算，也就是排進或吸取大氣的CO2量，雖然難以精確估算，但正在改變，他們說。
"Deforestation has moved the net basin-wide budget away from a possible late 20th-century net carbon sink and towards a net source," according to their paper.
「砍伐森林已使全盆地的淨預算可能自20世紀晚期起，從淨碳匯轉移，並朝淨碳源發展。」論文指出。
Mature forests such as the Amazon are big factors in the global-warming equation. Their trees suck up CO2 from the atmosphere through the natural process of photosynthesis. But when they rot or are burned, or the forest land is ploughed up, the carbon is returned to the air, adding to the greenhouse effect.
像亞馬遜等成熟森林是全球暖化方程式的重要因素。其樹木透過光合作用的自然過程吸收大氣的CO2。然而當它們腐朽、被焚燒或是林地被剷除，碳就回到大氣，增加溫室效應。
The paper estimates that the biomass of the Amazon contains a 100 billion tonnes of carbon--the equivalent of more than 10 years of global fossil-fuel emissions.
該論文估計，亞馬遜的生物質量可吸納1000億公噸的碳，這相當於超過10年的化石燃料全球排放量。
新聞辭典
transition︰名詞，過渡時期、轉變、變遷。例句︰He was still a young intellectual in transition.（他那時還是個處在轉變期的年輕知識份子。）
carbon sink︰碳匯。碳匯是碳源的相對概念，指自然界吸存二氧化碳的功能。
equation︰名詞，方程式、平衡、均衡。例句︰The issue involves the delicate equations between powers.（這個議題牽涉微妙的權力平衡。）
