TED演讲:做好准备去面对新的气候情形

 　　This is the skyline of my hometown, New Orleans.  这是我家乡新奥尔兰的天际线，

　　It was a great place to grow up,  这是一个适合长大的地方。

　　but it's one of the most vulnerable spots in the world.  但这也是这世上最脆弱的地方之一，

　　Half the city is already below sea level.  一半的城市都已经低于海平面了。

　　In 2005, the world watched as New Orleans and the Gulf¹ Coast were devastated² by Hurricane Katrina. 在2005年，全世界目睹了，新奥尔兰和墨西哥湾岸区被凯瑟琳台风所摧毁，

　　One thousand, eight hundred and thirty-six people died. Nearly 300,000 homes were lost.  一千八百三十四人不幸丧命，近三十万人流离失所。

　　These are my mother's, at the top -- although that's not her car,  在那上面，是我妈妈的屋子－尽管那不是她的车

　　it was carried there by floodwaters up to the roof -- and that's my sister's, below. 那是被洪水带到上面的。而下面的，则是我姐姐的

　　Fortunately, they and other family members got out in time,  万幸的是，她们和其他家庭成员都及时逃生了

　　but they lost their homes, and as you can see, just about everything in them. 但是正如您所见，她们失去了自己的家园和里面几乎一切

　　Other parts of the world have been hit by storms in even more devastating³ ways. 这个世界其余地方也遭遇暴风雨，甚至是以一种更毁灭性的方式。

　　In 2008, Cyclone⁴ Nargis and its aftermath killed 138,000 in Myanmar. 在2008年，飓风纳尔吉斯及其余波使138,000缅甸人遇害。

　　Climate change is affecting our homes, our communities, our way of life. 气候变化正在影响着我们的家园及社区和我们的生活方式。

　　We should be preparing at every scale and at every opportunity. 我们需要准备好面对任何规模，任何机会。

　　This talk is about being prepared for, and resilient to  这个话题使关于准备好，能时刻适应

　　the changes that are coming and that will affect our homes and our collective home, the Earth. 即将来临的变化和其将为我们的家和我们共同的家园：地球所带来的影响。

　　The changes in these times won't affect us all equally.  我们将面临的改变不会对每个人造成一样的影响。

　　There are important distributional consequences, and they're not what you always might think. 这里有很多重大的次生结果，并且可能与你一直所想的大相径庭。

　　In New Orleans, the elderly and female-headed households were among the most vulnerable. 在新奥尔兰，老年人和需要支撑起整个家庭的主妇们是最脆弱的。

　　For those in vulnerable, low-lying nations,  对于那些脆弱，无依无靠的人，

　　how do you put a dollar value on losing your country where you ancestors are buried? 你怎能等同一美元和失去你的国家和你祖先所埋葬的地方？

　　And where will your people go?  而且你又能去哪儿呢？

　　And how will they cope in a foreign land?  再之他们又怎么适应新的地方？

　　Will there be tensions over immigration, or conflicts over competition for limited resources? 他们是否会因为移民而焦虑，又或为了争夺匮乏的资源而争吵？

　　It's already fueled conflicts in Chad and Darfur.  这已曾在乍得共和国和苏尔富尔引起过冲突

　　Like it or not, ready or not, this is our future.  喜欢或不喜欢，准备好了或是没有，这，就是我们的未来。

　　Sure, some are looking for opportunities in this new world.  是的，有人在寻找新世界的机遇。

　　That's the Russians planting a flag on the ocean bottom  那是俄罗斯在海底插上他们的国旗

　　to stake a claim for minerals under the receding⁵ Arctic sea ice.  去申明矿物所有权，在北极渐渐退去的冰底中

　　But while there might be some short-term individual winners,  但是当这可能会有一些短期获利的同时

　　our collective losses will far outweigh⁶ them.  我们累计起的损失会远远超过这些。

　　Look no further than the insurance industry as they struggle  不要舍近求远，就像保险行业挣扎着

　　to cope with mounting catastrophic losses from extreme weather events. 去赔偿灾难的损失，来源于恶劣的天气环境。

　　The military gets it.  军队懂得了，

　　They call climate change a threat multiplier that could harm stability and security, 他们把气候改变称为一个威胁倍增器，它们可以威胁稳定和安全，

　　while governments around the world are evaluating how to respond. 正当全世界的政府正在评估如何去回应的时候。

　　So what can we do? How can we prepare and adapt?  所以，我们能做什么？我们如何准备并去适应？

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

5 receding   

v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• Desperately he struck out after the receding lights of the yacht. 游艇的灯光渐去渐远，他拼命划水追赶。 来自辞典例句
• Sounds produced by vehicles receding from us seem lower-pitched than usual. 渐渐远离我们的运载工具发出的声似乎比平常的音调低。 来自辞典例句

6 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。