一个多世纪的石油和天然气钻探活动留下了数百万个闲置的油气井，其中许多油气井会向空气和水中排放污染物。
Drilling companies are likely to leave behind many more abandoned wells since they are losing money, as oil prices struggle to recover from historic lows, experts say. They note that the coronavirus health crisis crushed international demand for fuel.
专家表示，由于石油价格难以从历史地位中恢复过来，钻井公司正在亏损，因此它们可能会留下更多废弃井。专家指出，新冠病毒健康危机破坏了国际石油需求。
Leaks from abandoned wells have long been recognized as an environmental problem and a risk to public health. Studies have linked abandoned wells to groundwater pollution in the United States. They also have been blamed for a large number of public safety incidents over the years.
长期以来，废弃井的泄漏问题一直被当作环境问题以及对公共健康的威胁。研究已经将废弃井与美国地下水污染联系起来。这些年来，它们还造成了大量公共安全事件。
Abandoned wells are also a serious threat to Earth's climate that researchers and government officials are only starting to understand. That finding comes from a Reuters news agency review of government records and statements by scientists, government experts and United Nations officials.
研究人员和政府官员才刚刚开始认识到废弃井对地球气候的严重威胁。这一发现来自于路透社对科学家、政府专家和联合国官员的政府记录和声明的回顾。
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change offered a proposal to U.N. member countries last year. It urged them to start studying and publishing information about the amount of methane released from abandoned oil and gas wells.
政府间气候变化委员会去年向联合国成员国提出了一项建议。它督促各国开始研究和发布废弃油气井释放甲烷量的有关数据。
Currently, Canada and the United States are the only countries to do so. In the U.S., more than 3 million abandoned oil and gas wells together released some 281 kilotons of methane in 2010. Those numbers come from the Environmental Protection Agency's most recent report to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
目前，加拿大和美国是唯一这样做的国家。在美国，3百多万个废弃的油气井在2010年总共释放了28.1万吨甲烷。这些数字来自于美国环境保护署对《联合国气候变化公约》的最新报告。
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA report noted that the amount of methane emitted is almost equal to the burning of 16.2 million barrels of crude oil.
美国环境保护署的报告指出， 这一甲烷排放量几乎等同于燃烧1620万桶原油。
The true amount, the EPA said, may be 3 times higher because of incomplete data.
美国环境保护署表示，由于数据不完整，真实数值可能会高出3倍。
The problem is less serious in Canada, where most oil production comes from oil sands mining instead of traditional drilling operations. The Canadian government believes the country's 313,000 abandoned wells released about 10.1 kilotons of methane in 2018, far less than the United States.
这个问题在加拿大不太严重，加拿大的大部分石油产量来自于油砂开采，而不是传统的钻井作业。加拿大政府认为，该国31.3万口废弃井在2018年释放了大约10.1吨甲烷，远远低于美国。
The effect of abandoned wells on the health of our planet is more difficult to study. The governments of Russia, Saudi Arabia and China – the world's other top oil and gas producers – did not respond to Reuters' requests for comments.
废弃井对地球健康的影响更加难以研究。俄罗斯、沙特和中国这些其它的全球大型油气生产国政府并未回应路透社的置评请求。
Researchers note that it is impossible to say the total amount of emissions worldwide without better records. But an estimate by Reuters, based on the U.S. numbers for oil and gas production, would place the total number of abandoned wells at around 29 million. That number of wells could release as much as 2.5 million tons of methane per year.
研究人员指出，如果没有更好的记录，没法统计出全球的排放总量。但是，根据美国对油气产量的统计数据，路透社估计废弃井的总数约为2900万口。这么多井每年可能释放多达250万吨甲烷。
I'm John Russell.
我是约翰·罗素。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)