Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is in Australia launching a new environmental pressure group made up of scientists and civic and business leaders. Safe Climate Australia demands emergency action to address warming temperatures and has plans to help a coal-hungry country move to a zero-carbon economy.
美国前副总统戈尔正在澳大利亚创建一个由科学家、市民和商界领袖组成的新的环境问题压力团体。这个名为澳大利亚气候安全协会的团体要求采取紧急行动，解决处理不断升高的气温问题，制定计划帮助把一个严重依赖煤炭国家的经济转变为一个零碳排放量的经济。
Al Gore told an audience in Melbourne that the planet has a "fever" caused by climate change.
戈尔在墨尔本告诉现场的人士，由于气候变化，导致地球正在发烧。
The Nobel Prize winner and former U.S. vice president is in Australia to open a new research group - Safe Climate Australia. He said Monday that mounting environmental challenges require immediate action.
这位诺贝尔奖得主、美国前副总统目前正在澳大利亚，开办一个新的研究机构--澳大利亚气候安全协会。他星期一表示，应对环境挑战需要立即采取行动。
Safe Climate Australia is being formed by a group of scientists, and community and corporate leaders who aim to end Australia's reliance on cheap coal for electricity.
澳大利亚气候安全协会由一些科学家、社区和企业领导人组成，目标是结束澳大利亚电力生产对廉价煤炭的依赖。
Mr. Gore's visit is part of a push by activists to raise awareness ahead of international climate change talks in Denmark later this year. At those negotiations, governments will seek to agree on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which expires in 2012.
戈尔对澳大利亚的访问是环保活动人士在今年晚些时候于丹麦举行国际气候变化会谈之前提高人们对环保问题关注程度努力的一部分。在丹麦举行的会谈中，各国政府将寻求达成即将于2012年到期的气候变化《京都议定书》的接替版本。
Mr. Gore says the increasing ferocity of bushfires in Australia is an example of how quickly the climate is changing.
戈尔表示，澳大利亚不断增加的丛林野火的肆虐是气候变化的速度有多快的例证之一。
"The odds have been shifted so heavily that fires that used to be manageable now threaten to spin out of control and wreak damages that are far beyond what was experienced in the past," Gore said. "This crisis is gaining momentum and the reason why is not that complicated."
他说：“形势发生了如此重大的改变，以往可控的野火现在已经有失去控制的威胁，造成的损害远比过去所经历的要大得多。这场危机正在加剧，而出现危机的原因则并不复杂。”
In February, 173 people died in wildfires that ravaged parts of the southern Australian state of Victoria.
今年2月，有173人死于澳大利亚南部的维多利亚州部分地区肆虐的野火。
Climate scientists warn that the Australian continent is particularly vulnerable to warming temperatures, which may lead to more severe storms, droughts and rising sea levels.
气候科学家警告说，澳洲大陆尤其易受气候变暖的影响，气候变暖会导致更多严重的风暴、干旱以及海平面的上升。
Mr. Gore's trip to Australia coincides with the country's first Youth Climate Summit. That gathering aims to mobilize a new generation of activists in preparation for the United Nations-sponsored climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
戈尔的澳大利亚之行恰逢澳大利亚首届青年气候峰会举办之际。这次会议的目的在于动员新一代的环保活动人士为今年12月在哥本哈根举行的由联合国主持召开的气候会谈做准备。
Mr. Gore told the meeting in Melbourne that recent action from both President Barack Obama's administration and the Rudd government in Australia were positive signs that climate change had become a priority.
戈尔在墨尔本召开的会议上表示，奥巴马政府以及澳大利亚总理陆克文领导的政府最近采取的行动释放出积极信号，那就是气候变化已经成为两国政府的首要议题之一。
Many scientists think that greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from burning coal and oil, are contributing to global warming. Governments around the world are discussing ways to reduce emissions, but the debate is complicated by economic interests and technological problems. |