2019年经济学人 气候问题(3)

 

The scale of the implications underlines another thing that climate change is not. It is not just an environmental problem alongside all the others—and absolutely not one that can be solved by hair-shirt self-abnegation. Change by the people who are most alarmed will not be enough. What is also needed is change in the lives of those who do not yet much care. Climate is a matter for the whole of government. It cannot be shunted off to the minister for the environment whom nobody can name. And that leads to a third thing that climate change is not. It is not a problem that can be put off for a few decades. It is here and now. It is already making extreme events like Hurricane Dorian more likely. Its losses are already there and often mourned—on drab landscapes where the glaciers¹ have died and on reefs bleached² of their coral colours. Delay means that mankind will suffer more harm and face a vastly more costly³ scramble⁴ to make up for lost time.

其影响范围还凸显了关于气候变化的另外事实。这不仅仅是一个环境问题，而且绝对不是一个可以通过克己来解决的问题。仅仅靠最警觉的人的改变是不够的。我们还需要改变那些还不太在意的人的生活。气候问题是整个政府的事。这件事不能交给环境部长去办，谁也说不出他的名字。这就引出了气候变化所没有的第三个问题。这不是一个可以推迟几十年的问题。而是发生在此时此地的一个问题。飓风多利安这样的极端事件发生的可能性越来越大。它的损失已经存在，而且常常是令人悲哀的——在冰川死亡的单调景观上，在珊瑚颜色褪色的珊瑚礁上。拖延意味着人类将遭受更多的伤害，并面临更大的代价来弥补失去的时间。

Hanging together

齐心协力

What to do is already well understood. And one vital task is capitalism’s speciality: making people better off. Adaptation, including sea defences, desalination⁵ plants, drought-resistant crops, will cost a lot of money. That is a particular problem for poor countries, which risk a vicious cycle where the impacts of climate change continuously rob them of the hope for development. International agreements stress the need to support the poorest countries in their efforts to adapt to climate change and to grow wealthy enough to need less help. Here the rich world is shirking its duties.

该做什么已经很清楚了。一项重要的任务就是在资本主义的特殊性：让人们生活得更好。适应气候变化，包括海防、海水淡化、抗旱作物，将花费大量资金。这对穷国来说是一个特别的问题，穷国面临着恶性循环的风险，气候变化的影响不断剥夺穷国发展的希望。国际协议强调有必要支持最贫穷国家适应气候变化的努力，帮助它们富裕起来，减少对援助的需求。在这方面，富裕国家正在逃避自己的责任。

Yet, even if it were to fulfil them, by no means all the effects of climate change can be adapted away. The further change goes, the less adaptation will be able to offset⁶ it. That leads to the other need for capital: the reduction of emissions⁷. With plausible⁸ technological⁹ improvements and lots of investment, it is possible to produce electricity grids¹⁰ that need no carbon-dioxide emitting power stations. Road transport can be electrified¹¹, though long-haul shipping¹² and air travel are harder. Industrial processes can be retooled¹³; those that must emit greenhouse gases can capture them.

然而，即使实现了这些目标，气候变化的所有影响也绝不可能被消除。变化越大，适应能力就越弱，无法抵消这种影响。这就导致了对资本的另一种需求:减排。通过合理的技术改进和大量的投资，有可能建造不需要排放二氧化碳的发电站的电网。公路运输可以电气化，尽管长途运输和航空运输更加困难。工业过程可以重新加工；那些必须排放温室气体的国家可以捕获它们。

1 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

2 bleached   

漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的

参考例句：

• His hair was bleached by the sun . 他的头发被太阳晒得发白。
• The sun has bleached her yellow skirt. 阳光把她的黄裙子晒得褪色了。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

5 desalination   

n.脱盐(作用)

参考例句：

• Crops can be grown on this land after desalination. 这片土地经过脱盐就可以种植庄稼了。
• One source is by desalination-taking the salt out of salt water to make it drinkable. 淡水的来源之一是使水淡化--把含盐的水中的盐份去掉，使之能够饮用。

6 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

7 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

8 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

9 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

10 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

11 electrified   

v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The railway line was electrified in the 1950s. 这条铁路线在20世纪50年代就实现了电气化。
• The national railway system has nearly all been electrified. 全国的铁路系统几乎全部实现了电气化。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

13 retooled   

v.（给…）更换工具， （给…）更换机械设备( retool的过去式和过去分词 )；改组，革新

参考例句：

• The company will be retooled after the incorporation. 合并之后的公司要进行重组。 来自辞典例句
• Each time the product changes, the machines have to be retooled. 每次更换产品，就得重新装备机器。 来自辞典例句