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Wildfires are wreaking havoc in New Mexico and Colorado, where more than 32,000 people have been evacuated. And who knows where other fires will break out before summer ends.
在新墨西哥州和科罗拉多州野火肆掠，有超过3万2千人被疏散。谁也不知道夏季结束前下一场大火会在哪里爆发？
This is exactly the kind of intense wildfire season we can expect as the climate changes thanks to our continuing emissions of greenhouse gases. Global warming is anticipated to make wet regions wetter and dry regions drier.
由于持续排放的温室气体导致了气候变化，火灾季活动频繁也是预料之中的后果。预计全球变暖会让湿地更加潮湿，干旱地区更加干燥。
To some extent that is already happening; a dry winter set the stage for an early fire season. Worse, warmer winters have allowed pests like the mountain pine beetle to thrive. The insect has munched its way through mountain forests from British Columbia down through Colorado, leaving plenty of dead timber to fuel fires, also a consequence of the fire suppression policies of past decades.
在某种程度上，这其实已经发生了：干燥的冬季预示着火灾季会早早到来。更糟糕的是，温暖的冬季会为山松甲虫的大肆繁衍提供条件。这种昆虫会啃遍从不列颠哥伦比亚至科罗拉多地区的山地森林，留下大量易燃的死木材。这也是过去几十年的火灾压制政策的后果。
Ultimately, global warming may eliminate the iconic ponderosa pine forests. Blazing fires could burn down existing stands, opening room for colonization by faster-growing prairie grasses or other plants. And a changing climate may prove more amenable to grassland than forest.
最终，全球变暖会使标志性的黄松森林消失。熊熊燃烧的大火会烧毁现有的岸站，为长势凶猛的草原草和其它植物提供开放的殖民空间。
But we may gain forests in other parts of the world. That might happen to Africa's savannahs, where the species causing these transitions first evolved.
但是在世界其它地区可能会收获森林。这也许会发生在非洲大草原，这里正是强悍的入侵物种进化的温床。
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