Unit 1
Creating a Low-Carbon Economy
创建低碳生活
Overview
概述
1. There is no longer any real question that global warming is occurring as the result
of the rapid build-up of greenhouse gases primarily caused by human activities.
We are on a trajectory for global warming to become much more intense unless
we begin a concerted, rapid shift toward a low-carbon economy. And the danger
is increasingly clear and present. As Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and recipient of the 2007 Nobel
Peace Prize, has said, ―If there‘s no action before 2012, that‘s too late. What we
do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining
moment.‖
对于主要由人类活动而迅速积累的温室气体引发了全球变暖这一事实，没有人再持有异议。除非我们协同一致，快速转向低碳经济，否则全球变暖的趋势将会愈演愈烈。这一危机日益彰显逼近。正如获得2007年诺贝尔和平奖的联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）主席拉金德拉·帕乔里所声称的：“如果在2012年之前我们还没有采取行动，那就为时已晚了。我们在未来两到三年中的所作所为将决定我们的未来。这是决定性的时刻。”
2. The Earth‘s average temperature has already increased by 0.8°C（about 1.4°F）over pre-industrial levels, increasing at a rate of 0.2°C per decade since 1975, and
without changing our course, we will lock several more degrees of change into
the system. Such temperature shifts may sound small, but they are not. During the
last ice age, average global temperature was only about 5.4°C（about 9.7°F）
colder than it is now.
同工业化前的水平相比，地球平均温度已经上升了0.8摄氏度（1.4华氏度左右），速度为自1975年以来每十年增加0.2摄氏度；如果我们仍然一意孤行，那么温度还会继续发生永久性的变化。这种温度变化听起来似乎不大，但事实并非如此。最后一个冰河时代时的全球平均气温不过比现今低约5.4摄氏度（9.7华氏度）。
3. Many of our leading climate scientists have warned that if we exceed 2.0°C（about 3.6°F） above pre-industrial times, we will enter a dangerous, uncharted
territory. No one knows at what precise temperature the effects of global warming
become intolerably large, whether as a result of gradual worsening of droughts,
floods, hurricanes, and heat waves or as a result of abrupt, catastrophic change,
such as the collapse of the Greenland or West Antarctic ice sheets and the
accompanying global swell in sea levels. But we are conducting a dangerous
uncontrolled experiment with the only home we have. This is why young people
in increasing numbers are starting to see climate change as the challenge of their
generation.
很多权威的气候学家们都曾发出过这样的警告：如果我们现在的温度超过工业化前2摄氏度（3.6华氏度）的话，我们将会迈进一个危险的未知国度。没有人能知道到底全球变暖具体达到多少度会变得无法控制，并且造成像干旱、洪水、飓风以及热浪等自然灾害的逐渐恶化，造成诸如格陵兰岛或西南极洲大冰原坍塌以及伴随的全球海平面上升等意外的灾难性变化。但是我们还依然在我们唯一的家园上不断做着危险而又不受约束的尝试，这也是为什么越来越多的年轻人开始将气候变化视为他们这一代人的一项挑战。
4. The Washington Post reported in April that, ―For many children and young adults,
global warming is the atomic bomb of today. Fears of an environmental crisis are
defining their generation in ways that the Depression, World War Ⅱ, Vietnam
and the Cold War‘s lingering ‗War Games‘ etched souls in the 20th century.‖
《华盛顿邮报》4月刊报导到：“对于许多儿童和青年而言，全球气候变暖无异于当今的原子弹。对于环境危机的担忧正影响着这一代人，正如经济大萧条、第二次世界大战、越南战争和冷战等等挥之不去的‗战争游戏‘影响了20世纪的灵魂一样。”
5. Some of the dire projections may not occur, but in light of the warnings from our
best scientists, it would beyond irresponsible to take that bet. Scientists are telling us if we do not take action soon, it will be late to avoid the most serious
consequences of global warming.
有些可怕的预测可能并不会发生，但考虑到那些最优秀的科学家们发出的警告，如果我们再冒险尝试将是极不负责任的做法。科学家告诉我们，如果我们不尽快采取行动，想要避免全球变暖引发的最严重恶果则为时晚矣。
Environment Costs
环境损失
6. The projected environment consequences of climate change are well known. The
only thing that keeps changing, with the steady drumbeat of new and better
scientific data and analysis, is that the picture gets more and more serious. In the
words of Harvard‘s John Holdren, one of our leading science policy thinkers,
global climate change is the most dangerous of all environment problems because
climate represents the envelope within which our natural systems operate. By
badly disrupting that envelope, we ―adversely affect every dimension of human
well-being that is tied to the environment.‖
气候变化对环境所造成的后果预测众所周知。依据稳健可靠的优新科学数据分析，唯一保持不断变化的景象就是越来越糟的环境。作为首席科学政策专家之一，哈佛大学的约翰·霍尔德伦指出，在所有环境问题中全球气候变化是最危险的，因为气候就像一个信封，保障其中所有自然生态系统正常运作。如果这一包裹层遭到严重破坏，我们就会“对环境影响下人类福祉的每一个层面产生不利影响。”
7. The Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change Impacts released in April
2007 by the IPCC, the official body of over 2,000 scientists acting under the
auspices of the United Nations, presents a stark picture. The IPCC report says that
―human induced climate change is already affecting physical and biological
processes on all continents and some oceans.‖ Among other impacts, the report
warns of:
在联合国的主持下，IPCC2000多名科学家组成的官方机构于2007年4月发布了关于气候变化影响的第四次评估报告，为人们展示了一幅鲜明的预警
