2019年经济学人 减少温室气体排放(2)

 

Since a cow has about the same greenhouse effect as a car, cutting the emissions¹ of even a portion of the world's 1.5bn cattle would bring great benefit.

既然一头牛所产生的温室效应和一辆小轿车相同，那么即使是将全球15亿头牛减少一部分也会带来巨大的好处。

Furthermore, according to Michael Battaglia, who directs CSIRO's agriculture and global change programme,

此外，CSIRO农业和全变变化项目负责人迈克尔·巴塔利亚

soon-to-be-published work shows that seaweed-fed beef cattle grew, as predicted, faster than their seaweedless confreres.

即将发表的文章表明用海藻喂养的肉牛，正如预测的那样，比没有用海藻喂养的同类生长得更快。

The methane-diminishing effect of Asparagopsis is caused by a compound called bromoform, in which the algae² are rich.

芦笋藻减少甲烷的效用是由一种叫做三溴甲烷的化合物引起的，这种化合物中含有丰富的藻类。

Bromoform blocks one of the enzymes³ that methanogens use to create the gas.

三溴甲烷阻断了产甲烷菌用来产生气体的一种酶。

The obvious solution to the problem might therefore seem to be to add this chemical directly to animal feed.

因此，解决这一问题的明显方法似乎是将这种化学物质直接添加到动物饲料中。

That might work in principle (no one has yet tried), but in practice would require a lot of safety trials and,

这么做在原则上可行（还没有人试过），但在实践中需要进行大量的安全试验，

if those came back positive, a change in the regulations. It would also risk a backlash by consumers,

如果结果积极，那么规定也需要改变。这可能会遭到消费者的强烈抵制，

who might perceive adding bromoform as adulteration of some sort.

他们可能会认为添加三溴甲烷是一种掺假行为。

The alternative is to cultivate seaweed, rather than gathering⁴ it from the wild,

另一种方法是培育海藻，而是不是从野外收集，

in order to provide the quantities that will be needed if the idea of adding Asparagopsisto feed becomes popular.

如果在饲料中添加芦笋藻的想法流行起来，这么做可以提供所需的量。

And New Zealand's government is proposing to do precisely⁵ that.

新西兰政府正提议这样做。

It has just made money available for people who hope to develop ways to farm Asparagopsis. Exactly how this will work remains⁶ to be seen.

该国政府刚刚为希望开发种植芦笋藻种植方法的人提供了资金。结果如何还有待观察。

But the idea of adding a new crop to the world's agriculture, and a marine⁷ one to boot, is intriguing⁸.

但在世界农业中增加一种新作物，一种海洋作物的想法是很有趣的。

1 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。

2 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

3 enzymes   

n. 酶，酵素

参考例句：

• It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
• Among the enzymes which are particularly effective are pepsin, papain. 在酶当中特别有效的是胃朊酶、木瓜酶。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》