标题:
Human Activity in China and India Dominates the Greening of Earth, NASA Study
Shows (NASA研究显示，中国和印度的人为活动主导地球绿化)
新闻来源: 原文 https://goo.gl/dhe1aS
(括号内为我的翻译)
The world is literally a greener place than it was 20 years ago, and data
from NASA satellites has revealed a counterintuitive source for much of this
new foliage: China and India. A new study shows that the two emerging
countries with the world’s biggest populations are leading the increase in
greening on land. The effect stems mainly from ambitious tree planting
programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries.
(这个世界实际上比20年前更加绿色，而NASA卫星的数据显示，大部分这种新增的叶绿色
有个违反直觉的来源：中国和印度。一项新的研究表明，世界上人口最多的两个新兴国家
正在引领土地绿化的增加。其影响主要来自中国雄心勃勃的植树计划和两国的集约化农业
。)
The greening phenomenon was first detected using satellite data in the
mid-1990s by Ranga Myneni of Boston University and colleagues, but they did
not know whether human activity was one of its chief, direct causes. This new
insight was made possible by a nearly 20-year-long data record from a NASA
instrument orbiting the Earth on two satellites. It’s called the Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, and its high-resolution data
provides very accurate information, helping researchers work out details of
what’s happening with Earth’s vegetation, down to the level of 500 meters,
or about 1,600 feet, on the ground.
(20世纪90年代中期，波士顿大学的Ranga Myneni及其同事首次使用卫星数据检测到绿化
现象，但他们不知道人类活动是否是其主要的直接原因之一。这项新的见解得益于NASA的
两颗卫星绕地球运行的近20年的仪器数据记录。它被称为中分辨率成像光谱仪，或MODIS
，其高分辨率数据提供非常准确的信息，帮助研究人员详细了解地球植被发生的细节，至
地面上500公尺，或约1,600英尺分辨率的水准。)
Taken all together, the greening of the planet over the last two decades
represents an increase in leaf area on plants and trees equivalent to the
area covered by all the Amazon rainforests. There are now more than two
million square miles of extra green leaf area per year, compared to the early
2000s – a 5% increase.
(总而言之，过去二十年来地球的绿化代表了植物和树木叶面积的增加，相当于所有亚马
逊热带雨林覆蓋的面积。与21世纪初相比，现在每年有超过200万平方英里的额外绿叶面
积 - 增加了5％。)
“China and India account for one-third of the greening, but contain only 9%
of the planet’s land area covered in vegetation – a surprising finding,
considering the general notion of land degradation in populous countries from
overexploitation,” said Chi Chen of the Department of Earth and Environment
at Boston University, in Massachusetts, and lead author of the study.
(“中国和印度只包含植被覆蓋的地球面积的9％，却占新增绿化面积的三分之一。考虑到
人口众多的国家中，土地一般因过度开发退化， 这是一个令人惊讶的发现。”麻州波士
顿大学地球与环境系，该研究的主要作者 Chi Chen 说。)
An advantage of the MODIS satellite sensor is the intensive coverage it
provides, both in space and time: MODIS has captured as many as four shots of
every place on Earth, every day for the last 20 years.
( MODIS卫星传感器的一个优点是它在空间和时间上提供了密集的覆蓋：MODIS在过去20年
中，每天在地球上每个地方拍摄多达四张照片。)
“This long-term data lets us dig deeper,” said Rama Nemani, a research
scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, in California’s Silicon Valley,
and a co-author of the new work. “When the greening of the Earth was first
observed, we thought it was due to a warmer, wetter climate and fertilization
from the added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, leading to more leaf growth
in northern forests, for instance. Now, with the MODIS data that lets us
understand the phenomenon at really small scales, we see that humans are also
contributing.”
( NASA位于加州硅谷的Ames研究中心的研究科学家Rama Nemani说：“这一长期数据让我
们能够深入挖掘。”他是这项新工作的合著者。 “当首次观察到地球的绿化时，我们认
为这是由于气候变暖，潮湿和大气中二氧化碳的施肥，导致北方森林的叶片生长更多。现
在，通过MODIS数据让我们能够在非常小的尺度上理解这种现象，我们发现人类也在做出
贡献。”)
China’s outsized contribution to the global greening trend comes in large
part (42%) from programs to conserve and expand forests. These were developed
in an effort to reduce the effects of soil erosion, air pollution and climate
change. Another 32% there – and 82% of the greening seen in India – comes
from intensive cultivation of food crops.
(中国对全球绿化趋势的巨大贡献在很大程度上（42％）来自保护和扩大森林的计划。这
些是为了减少土壤侵蚀，空气污染和气候变化的影响而开发的。另外的32％，和在印度看
到的82％的绿化 一起，是来自粮食作物的集约化种植。)
Land area used to grow crops is comparable in China and India – more than
770,000 square miles – and has not changed much since the early 2000s. Yet
these regions have greatly increased both their annual total green leaf area
and their food production. This was achieved through multiple cropping
practices, where a field is replanted to produce another harvest several
times a year. Production of grains, vegetables, fruits and more have
increased by about 35-40% since 2000 to feed their large populations.
(用于种植农作物的土地面积在中国和印度差不多，超过770,000平方英里 ，并且自21世
纪初以来没有太大变化。然而，这些地区的年绿叶总面积和粮食产量都大大增加。这是通
过多种作物实践来实现的，田地被重新种植而产生另一次收获，一年里重复多次。自2000
年以来，粮食，蔬菜，水果等的产量增加了约35-40％，以满足其大量人口的需求。)
How the greening trend may change in the future depends on numerous factors,
both on a global scale and the local human level. For example, increased food
production in India is facilitated by groundwater irrigation. If the
groundwater is depleted, this trend may change.
(未来绿化趋势如何变化取决于众多因素，无论是在全球范围内还是在当地的人类社会层
面。例如，地下水灌溉促进了印度粮食产量的增加。如果地下水耗尽，这种趋势可能会改
变。)
“But, now that we know direct human influence is a key driver of the
greening Earth, we need to factor this into our climate models,” Nemani
said. “This will help scientists make better predictions about the behavior
of different Earth systems, which will help countries make better decisions
about how and when to take action.”
(“但是，既然我们知道人类的直接影响是绿化地球的关键驱动因素，我们需要将其纳入
我们的气候模型。” Nemani说，“这将有助于科学家更好地预测不同地球系统的行为，
这将有助于各国更好地决定如何以及何时采取行动。”)
The researchers point out that the gain in greenness seen around the world
and dominated by India and China does not offset the damage from loss of
natural vegetation in tropical regions, such as Brazil and Indonesia. The
consequences for sustainability and biodiversity in those ecosystems remain.
(研究人员指出，世界各地以及印度和中国占主导地位的绿色增益并未抵消巴西和印尼等
热带地区自然植被丧失造成的损害。这些生态系统对可持续性和生物多样性的影响依旧。
)
Overall, Nemani sees a positive message in the new findings. “Once people
realize there’s a problem, they tend to fix it,” he said. “In the 70s and
80s in India and China, the situation around vegetation loss wasn’t good; in
the 90s, people realized it; and today things have improved. Humans are
incredibly resilient. That’s what we see in the satellite data.”
(总体而言，Nemani在新发现中看到了积极的信息。 “一旦人们意识到存在问题，他们就
会解决这个问题，”他说。 “在70年代和80年代的印度和中国，植被损失的情况糟糕。
在90年代，人们意识到了这一点。今天情况有所改善。人类非常有弹性。这就是我们在卫
星数据中看到的情况。”)
This research was published online, Feb. 11, 2019, in the journal Nature
Sustainability.
该研究于2019年2月11日在线发表在Nature Sustainability期刊上。
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0220-7
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