Turkmenistan's Leader Wants 'Gates of Hell' Fire Put Out

2022-01-14

00:00 / 00:00
复读宝 RABC v8.0beta 复读机按钮使用说明
播放/暂停
停止
播放时:倒退3秒/复读时:回退AB段
播放时:快进3秒/复读时:前进AB段
拖动:改变速度/点击:恢复正常速度1.0
拖动改变复读暂停时间
点击:复读最近5秒/拖动:改变复读次数
设置A点
设置B点
取消复读并清除AB点
播放一行
停止播放
后退一行
前进一行
复读一行
复读多行
变速复读一行
变速复读多行
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1
  • The president of Turkmenistan is calling for an end to one of the country's most notable sights:
  • 2
  • the burning crater widely known as the "Gates of Hell."
  • 3
  • The desert crater is found about 260 kilometers north of the capital, Ashgabat.
  • 4
  • It sits near the village of Darvaza and its official name is Darvaza gas crater.
  • 5
  • The fire has burned in the Central Asian nation since the early 1970s.
  • 6
  • It is a popular place to visit for the small number of travelers who come to Turkmenistan.
  • 7
  • The country is difficult to enter and highly controlled.
  • 8
  • The Turkmen news site Turkmenportal said that a 1971 search for gas caused the ground to collapse, which formed the crater.
  • 9
  • At the time, Turkmenistan was under control of the former Soviet Union.
  • 10
  • The crater is about 60 meters across and 20 meters deep.
  • 11
  • Earth scientists set a fire to prevent the spread of gas.
  • 12
  • They expected the gas to burn off in a few weeks.
  • 13
  • But the fire is still burning 50 years later.
  • 14
  • In 2019, state television showed President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov speeding around it in an off-road vehicle.
  • 15
  • But earlier this month, the state newspaper Neitralny Turkemistan reported that Berdymukhammedov has ordered his government to look for ways to put out the fire.
  • 16
  • It is causing ecological damage and affecting the health of people living in the area.
  • 17
  • Turkmenistan has the world's fifth-largest natural gas reserves.
  • 18
  • But life for most of the country's 6 million people remains difficult.
  • 19
  • Berdymukhammedov has ruled his country by demanding obedience.
  • 20
  • He has isolated Turkmenistan during an economic crisis that has made many of its citizens poor, and shortages of simple goods and food are common.
  • 21
  • A 2021 Bloomberg report said that Turkmenistan's state-controlled energy industry is one of the world's worst creators of the greenhouse gas methane.
  • 22
  • Methane is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a planet-warming greenhouse gas.
  • 23
  • This means that controlling leaks in gas production is important in fighting climate change.
  • 24
  • In 2021, the International Energy Agency estimated Turkmenistan's total methane creation was behind only Russia, the United States, Iran and Iraq.
  • 25
  • These countries are all major oil and gas producers.
  • 26
  • However, Turkmenistan had the second-highest methane creation intensity in the world.
  • 27
  • This number means how much methane is leaked into the environment in relation to natural gas that is produced.
  • 28
  • Turkmenistan's leak rate was more than five times larger than the world's top natural gas producer, the United States.
  • 29
  • I'm Gregory Stachel.
  • 1
  • The president of Turkmenistan is calling for an end to one of the country's most notable sights: the burning crater widely known as the "Gates of Hell."
  • 2
  • The desert crater is found about 260 kilometers north of the capital, Ashgabat. It sits near the village of Darvaza and its official name is Darvaza gas crater.
  • 3
  • The fire has burned in the Central Asian nation since the early 1970s. It is a popular place to visit for the small number of travelers who come to Turkmenistan. The country is difficult to enter and highly controlled.
  • 4
  • The Turkmen news site Turkmenportal said that a 1971 search for gas caused the ground to collapse, which formed the crater. At the time, Turkmenistan was under control of the former Soviet Union.
  • 5
  • The crater is about 60 meters across and 20 meters deep. Earth scientists set a fire to prevent the spread of gas. They expected the gas to burn off in a few weeks.
  • 6
  • But the fire is still burning 50 years later.
  • 7
  • In 2019, state television showed President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov speeding around it in an off-road vehicle.
  • 8
  • But earlier this month, the state newspaper Neitralny Turkemistan reported that Berdymukhammedov has ordered his government to look for ways to put out the fire. It is causing ecological damage and affecting the health of people living in the area.
  • 9
  • Natural gas producer
  • 10
  • Turkmenistan has the world's fifth-largest natural gas reserves. But life for most of the country's 6 million people remains difficult. Berdymukhammedov has ruled his country by demanding obedience. He has isolated Turkmenistan during an economic crisis that has made many of its citizens poor, and shortages of simple goods and food are common.
  • 11
  • A 2021 Bloomberg report said that Turkmenistan's state-controlled energy industry is one of the world's worst creators of the greenhouse gas methane.
  • 12
  • Methane is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a planet-warming greenhouse gas. This means that controlling leaks in gas production is important in fighting climate change.
  • 13
  • In 2021, the International Energy Agency estimated Turkmenistan's total methane creation was behind only Russia, the United States, Iran and Iraq. These countries are all major oil and gas producers.
  • 14
  • However, Turkmenistan had the second-highest methane creation intensity in the world. This number means how much methane is leaked into the environment in relation to natural gas that is produced. Turkmenistan's leak rate was more than five times larger than the world's top natural gas producer, the United States.
  • 15
  • I'm Gregory Stachel.
  • 16
  • The Associated Press reported this story. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English with additional materials from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  • 17
  • _____________________________________________________________________
  • 18
  • Words in This Story
  • 19
  • crater - n. a large round hole in the ground made by the explosion of a bomb or by something falling from the sky
  • 20
  • reserve - n. a supply of something that is stored so that it can be used at a later time
  • 21
  • isolated - adj. separate from others
  • 22
  • greenhouse gas - phr. n. air pollution that is related to or cause the warming of the Earth's atmosphere
  • 23
  • carbon dioxide - n. a gas that is produced when people and animals breathe out or when certain fuels are burned and that is used by plants for energy