TED演讲:对最近气候趋势的警告(3)

 　　In the last five years we've added 70 million tons of CO2 every 24 hours -- 25 million tons every day to the oceans. 在过去五年间，我们每二十四小时已经增加了了七千万吨的二氧化碳排放量，每天排放两千五百万吨的二氧化碳到海里。

　　Look carefully at the area of the eastern Pacific, from the Americas, extending westward¹, 仔细看看太平洋得东边海域，从美洲一直延伸到西边，

　　and on either side of the Indian subcontinent, where there is a radical² depletion³ of oxygen in the oceans. 到印度次大陆的两侧，都有海域极度缺氧的现象发生。

　　The biggest single cause of global warming, along with deforestation, which is 20 percent of it, is the burning of fossil⁴ fuels.  造成全球暖化最重要的的原因，其中20%是因为不断砍伐森林，作用和直接烧石油煤炭一样。

　　Oil is a problem, and coal is the most serious problem. 燃烧石油是一个问题，但是燃烧煤炭更严重。

　　The United States is one of the two largest emitters, along with China. 美国是两大燃煤消费国之一，也是最大的排放国，和中国大陆并列。

　　And the proposal has been to build a lot more coal plants. 而且还有更多燃煤的火力发电厂的兴建计划。

　　But we're beginning to see a sea change. 然而我们已经开始看到海平面的变化。

　　Here are the ones that have been cancelled in the last few years with some green alternatives proposed. 这是近几年内已被取消的兴建计划，取而代之的是一些绿色替代能源计划。

　　However there is a political battle in our country. 然而，在我们国家有一场政治角力。

　　And the coal industries and the oil industries 那些煤碳及石油工业，

　　spent a quarter of a billion dollars in the last calendar year promoting clean coal, which is an oxymoron. 在去年的选举中撒了两千五百万，推销所谓的“净煤”，这无疑是挂羊头卖狗肉。

　　That image reminded me of something. 那景象让我想起了一些事。

　　Around Christmas, in my home in Tennessee, a billion gallons of coal sludge was spilled. 大约在圣诞节时，在我田纳西的家中有十亿加仑的煤废水外泄出来。

　　You probably saw it on the news. This, all over the country, is the second largest waste stream in America. 你或许已经看过这则新闻了。这条流经全国的河，成为美国西部第二大的污水河。

　　This happened around Christmas. One of the coal industry's ads around Christmas was this one. 这件事发生在圣诞节附近。一个燃煤工业在圣诞节附近所播放的广告如下。

1 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

2 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

3 depletion   

n.耗尽，枯竭

参考例句：

• Increased consumption of water has led to rapid depletion of groundwater reserves.用水量的增加导致了地下水贮备迅速枯竭。
• Farmers should rotate crops every season to prevent depletion of the soil.农夫每季应该要轮耕，以免耗尽土壤。

4 fossil   

n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固

参考例句：

• At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.时间隔得这么久了，很难确定这化石的年代。
• The man is a fossil.那人是个老顽固。