Dust Storms 沙塵暴

In April 2012， a dust storm that originated in China and Mongolia took a six-day journey across more than ten thousand kilometers of sea and open land to Arizona in the United States. The cloud was so dense that it seemed as if the sun were setting early. At least one person thought a volcano had erupted.

2012年4月，源自中國及蒙古內陸的沙塵暴，在六天中跨越了一萬多千米的海洋與空曠陸地，最后到達美國亞利桑那州。陰云密布，就像太陽將提早下山，不少人以為是火山爆發了。

Although traveling dust storms are nothing new， the dust now often contains chemical or metallic substances that contribute to respiratory illnesses and damage the environment. At present， a group of researchers in Asia is studying aerosol particles and their effects on the environment—and they have plenty of dust to work with.

雖然移動的沙塵暴沒什么稀奇，但現在的沙塵暴中往往含有化學或金屬物質，這些物質會導致呼吸系統疾病并且破壞環境。目前，亞洲有一批研究人員正在研究大氣懸浮顆粒及其對環境的影響。他們要研究的沙塵可多著呢。

Dust storms are one of the repercussions of humans messing around with Mother Nature. Although they are a natural phenomenon， dust storms have been occurring more often， at shorter intervals， and with greater force in recent years， and human activity is the cause.

沙塵暴就是人類肆意破壞大自然所造成的后果之一。沙塵暴雖是自然現象，但是近年來發生的頻率卻逐漸增加，間隔的時間也愈來愈短，威力更是越來越大，人類的活動是罪魁禍首。

It is a fact that excessive herding of animals and exploitation of grasslands are responsible for the majority of dust storms. This means that dust storms are largely a result of human actions; in other words， they are controllable.

事實上，沙塵暴形成的主要原因是過度放牧及濫墾草原，這表明沙塵暴大多是人類活動所致。也就是說，它們是可加以控制的。

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