纽约时报 气候变化影响着海岛的存亡(2)

 

When you have millions of people who are forced to flee, they’re going to be spilling over into wealthier nations.

当数以百万计的人被迫逃离时，他们将会溢出到更富裕的国家。

Those nations are going to have to respond.

这些国家将不得不做出回应。

Do they build walls or do they welcome?

他们是建起城墙还是表示欢迎?

I have real concerns, because we’ve seen that you’re more open to welcoming those who maybe look like you or who you understand, and you’re more likely to build walls for those who seem different.

我真的很担心，因为我们已经看到，你更敞开地欢迎那些看起来像你或你理解的人，你更有可能对那些看起来不同的人筑起高墙。

That’s where, in terms of power differentials, what we do as the Marshall Islands is tell stories — show how human dignity is a common value that applies whether you are from the Marshall Islands or the United States or Europe or Sudan.

就权力差异而言，我们在马绍尔群岛所做的就是讲故事——展示人类尊严是一种普遍价值，无论你来自马绍尔群岛、美国、欧洲或苏丹。

When you diminish the human dignity of another individual or community or country, that diminishes your human dignity.

当你贬低另一个个人、群体或国家的尊严时，你也在贬低你自己的尊严。

So telling the stories, bearing witness, establishing the things that bind¹ us together is critical to addressing climate change.

因此，讲述故事，见证，建立将我们联系在一起的纽带，对应对气候变化至关重要。

You’re talking about interconnectedness.

你说的是相互关联性 。

Along those lines, how might what’s happening in Ukraine affect the Marshall Islands?

按照这些思路，乌克兰发生的事情会如何影响马绍尔群岛?

You can’t help but feel connected when you see the terrifying images and hear how people are being killed or forced to flee their homes.

当你看到这些恐怖的画面，听到人们是如何被杀害或被迫逃离家园时，你会不由自主地感到与此相关联。

We were talking about power: the idea of sovereignty, territorial² integrity, the right to choose your own future.

我们谈论的是权力:主权，领土完整，选择自己未来的权利。

Those are core to the concerns that I have for the future of my own country with regard to climate change,我对自己国家未来在气候变化方面很担忧，这也是我最担忧的。

and seeing it play out in real time in Ukraine, where international norms and the rule of law have been broken — all small countries everywhere are left to worry.

看到权力在乌克兰实时发挥作用，那里的国际规范和法治已经被打破——世界各地的所有小国都需要担心。

We’re on a war footing with climate change in my country.

我们国家正处于应对气候变化的战争状态。

That question of “How do you feel when your country may be at war with climate change but wealthier countries, they’re going to be OK?”

“当你的国家可能正在与气候变化开战，但富裕国家却没事的时候，你有什么感觉？”

The thing is, they’re not.

问题是，他们不会没事。

We will be hit first and hardest by climate change, but everyone’s going to be hit.

气候变化将首先对我们造成最严重的影响，但每个人都会受到影响。

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change seemed to me to suggest that climate-change mitigation and adaptation need to be the global focus, more than trying to stay under 1.5 degrees of warming.

在我看来，政府间气候变化专门委员会的最新报告似乎表明，减缓和适应气候变化需要成为全球关注的焦点，而不是试图将升温控制在1.5度以内。

But what would adaptation look like for the Marshall Islands?

但是马绍尔群岛的适应性会是怎样的呢?

In the Marshalls, we’re two meters above sea level.

在马绍尔，我们在海拔两米以上。

It’s a small, low-lying atoll nation.

这是一个地势低洼的环礁小国。

I don’t know if you’ve ever been to an atoll. We’re essentially³ one long beach.

我不知道你是否去过环形珊瑚岛。 本质上是一个长滩。

It’s all coast. There’s no interior.

都是海岸。没有内部。

So adaptation for us is many things.

所以适应对我们来说是很重要的。

It needs to be about responding to sea-level rise, that’s first and foremost.

环形珊瑚岛需要对海平面上升做出反应，这是首要的。

But it’s also about water resources, because our aquifers⁴ are going to be inundated⁵. Freshwater lenses will be affected⁶.

但这也与水资源有关，因为我们的地下水层将会被淹没。 淡水水晶体会受到影响。

1 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

2 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 aquifers   

n.地下蓄水层，砂石含水层( aquifer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And in Africa, the aquifers barely recharge at all. 非洲的地下水开采以后几乎得不到补充。 来自时文部分
• Aquifers have water contents over 30%. 含水层的水含过30％。 来自辞典例句

5 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。