[ti:Climate Change Has Already Affected South America] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Scientists have long warned that extreme weather [00:03.80]would cause major disasters in the future. [00:07.92]But in South America, that future is already here. [00:13.64]In the past month, there have been deadly landslides in Brazil, [00:18.24]wildfires in Argentine wetlands and flooding in the Amazon. [00:24.72]In just three hours on February 15, [00:28.48]the Brazilian city of Petropolis received over 25 centimeters of rainfall. [00:36.16]That is the most recorded in a single day [00:39.60]since officials began keeping records in 1932. [00:45.16]The resulting landslides killed more than 100 people [00:49.40]and left nearly 1,000 others homeless. [00:54.44]A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [00:58.92]found that global warming is changing the strength [01:02.92]and frequency of extreme weather events. [01:07.64]These events have also become more difficult to predict, [01:12.04]the report said, leading to additional damage. [01:16.80]An historic drought of the Paraná River [01:19.60]dried out much of Argentina's Ibera Wetlands. [01:24.44]Its waters are at the lowest level since 1944. [01:30.84]The area has had many severe wildfires in the last two months. [01:38.24]Recently, 70 percent of the city of Jordao in Brazil's Amazon rainforest [01:44.48]was underwater because of flooding from two rivers. [01:49.68]The floods have severely affected the lives of thousands of people in the area, [01:55.76]including 32 native Brazilian communities. [02:01.64]The entire Amazon rainforest stores between 150 and 200 billion tonnes of carbon [02:08.92]in its plant life and soil, says Carlos Nobre. [02:13.24]He is a Brazilian climate scientist [02:16.76]who has studied the Amazon for more than 30 years. [02:21.84]Nobre told The Associated Press, "If you lose the forest, [02:26.48]this carbon dioxide... goes into the atmosphere. [02:30.32]It is very important to maintain the forest." [02:35.64]But most governments across the area [02:38.76]have failed to consider the IPCC's warnings and stop the destruction. [02:45.96]Many South American leaders have not spoken [02:49.20]about illegal logging and mining activities in at-risk areas. [02:55.92]In Colombia, a recent increase in forest fires [02:59.88]led more than 150 international researchers and activists [03:04.92]to send a letter urging the government to do more to prevent them. [03:11.12]Local lawyers and police officials have said the area [03:15.32]is more and more dependent on activists for preservation. [03:21.24]Alejandra Boloqui supervises a private protected land area [03:26.52]in Argentina's Ibera Wetlands. [03:31.04]She has been helping firefighters fight against wildfires there. [03:37.44]Recently, she recorded 12 alligators fleeing the fires [03:42.32]and walking down a dirt road in search of water. [03:47.48]"When I started filming them, I cried. [03:50.48]I felt they were saying to me: ‘I've been left without a home, [03:54.96]I'm leaving,'" Boloqui told the AP. [03:59.36]"It got my attention seeing so many alligators [04:03.04]moving together during the day. ...They are very slow reptiles [04:08.36]who move at night to avoid heat." [04:12.24]The alligators and many other animals found shelter [04:16.88]in a nearby body of water that had dried up due to lack of rain. [04:23.08]It has since been refilled using water pumps powered by the sun. [04:29.68]Local officials say the fires started [04:32.80]with the burning of farmland for raising cows. [04:37.92]That practice has been banned since December. [04:42.52]IPCC experts say in the report [04:45.96]that droughts make it easier for fires to spread quickly. [04:52.24]Last year, Brazil's south and southeast areas [04:56.48]faced their worst droughts in 90 years. [05:01.72]In Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon, rivers rose to levels [05:07.16]not seen in over 100 years of record-keeping. [05:12.80]Flooding of streets and houses [05:15.44]affected about 450,000 people in the area. [05:21.04]The IPCC report says changes in the timing and strength of rainfall, [05:27.16]along with extreme temperatures, are affecting agricultural production [05:31.96]across Central and South America. [05:36.16]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM