Taiwan's Bad Air and Ice Cream Farmers

News Bites

Hi everyone, welcome to a new episode of News Bites! I'm Kelly Kimura… And I'm Nancy Sun. Coming up next in today's news: Taiwan's air is worse for you than a pack of cigarettes. And ice cream is saving Indian farmers! And in today's Tasty Tidbit, these fish have lungs! Stay tuned for more on these stories! ___________________________________________________________ 台灣空汙引起肺癌的風險高於每日一包菸 Taiwan's Air Pollution More Likely to Cause Lung Cancer Than a Pack of Cigarettes a Day Doctors always tell people not to smoke because they could get lung cancer (肺癌). But recent studies show that people may get lung cancer even if they don't smoke. This is more likely (可能) when they live in areas (區域) with air pollution (空氣污染). National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學) did a study. Their researchers found that breathing in (吸入) air pollution increases the risk (風險) of lung cancer more than smoking a pack of cigarettes (香菸) every day! In Taiwan, liver (肝) cancer was the most common cause of cancer-related deaths (肝癌是所有癌症死亡原因中最常見的) twenty years ago. Lung cancer now causes the most cancer-related deaths, with over ten thousand deaths every year. Let's look at air pollution. PM, or particulate matter (懸浮微粒) means very, very small solid and liquid particles (固體和液體顆粒) in the air. How small? PM is measured in micrometers (以微米為單位). A micrometer is one millionth of a meter. PM 2.5 is particulate matter that is less than two and a half micrometers wide. In comparison (相比之下), spider silk (蜘蛛絲) is about 4 micrometers wide (寬). PM 2.5 increased in residential areas (住宅區) over 30 years. The researchers analyzed (分析) Taiwan's lung cancer statistics (統計數據) from 1997 to 2020. They compared statistics for lung cancer and air pollution. The research results show long-term exposure (暴露) to PM 2.5 increased the risk of adenocarcinoma lung cancer (AdLC 肺腺癌) by 1.044 times more than that of people who smoked over a pack of cigarettes a day. Reducing air pollution is very important to lower the risk of lung cancer. 政府必須致力於減少工業區及大眾運輸工具的空氣污染。 If air pollution gets worse, we'll need to wear a face mask every day in Taiwan! ___________________________________________________________ 從沙漠到甜點, 冰淇淋拯救了印度遭受乾旱的農民 From Desert to Dessert: Ice Cream Saves Drought-Hit Farmers in India As the climate crisis (氣候危機) gets worse every year, droughts (乾旱) are becoming more common (常見的). Rajasthan (拉賈斯坦邦) is a state in India known for its forts (堡壘), desert safaris (狩獵旅行), palaces (宮殿) and temples. But for the last 20 years, the drought in that state has been very bad. Farmers have given up on farming. They look for jobs in other states. Luckily, ice cream has given farmers a chance to earn money. Ice cream has changed their lives. No one knows when farmers began selling ice cream. But people told stories of the snack culture in richer states. Families and friends in those states buy ice cream, popsicles (冰棒), and sodas from roadside food carts (路邊小吃攤) until late at night. Farmers change their mini-trucks into ice cream trucks. Around 50,000 mini-trucks are changed into ice cream trucks every year! 50,000! Ice cream has also created new businesses and local jobs. There are now many service and repair (服務和維修) shops for ice cream trucks and ice cream equipment and supply (設備和用品) shops. From November to February, farmers get ready to sell ice cream. They get their mini-trucks changed into ice cream trucks. They get the trucks serviced. They buy ice cream equipment and supplies. They buy so many ice cream posters that the local printers need extra workers to make them! When March comes, the farmers drive to other states to sell ice cream during the hot season. They come back home in October. 他們在外地所賺的錢，讓他們能夠在家鄉建造水泥房屋。 Now the farmers can dig wells (水井) to get water for their homes and farms. The farmers are thankful they can sell ice cream, even though it means being far from their families for most of the year. ___________________________________________________________ So in today's News Bites: Taiwan's air pollution is more likely to cause lung cancer than smoking one pack of cigarettes a day. The concentration of PM 2.5 has risen in residential areas over the years. Reducing air pollution is very important to lower the risk of lung cancer. ___________________________________________________________ And… Selling ice cream has saved drought-hit farmers in India. The lack of rain made farmers give up farming. Selling ice-cream for many months a year in other states every year has changed their lives. ___________________________________________________________ 趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit And in today's Tasty Tidbit… In the last story, you heard "drought" (乾旱) When there's a drought, most fish can't survive when the water they live in dries up. But African lungfish aren't like most fish. Lung… hmmm… in the first story, you heard "lung" (肺) These fish have lungs! When there's a drought, these fish go into mud (污泥). They secrete mucus (分泌黏液) to make a pod (莢) around themselves. Only their mouths are not covered. This lets them breathe in air. They don't dry up in their pods. Everything in their bodies works very slowly. They can stay alive in these pods for four years! Hopefully rain falls before then! ___________________________________________________________ And that's it for today's episode of News Bites! If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with us, record your message and send your Tasty Tidbit to us at [e-mail]. You might hear it at the end of an episode! We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!