VOA标准英语2012--Dietary Changes May Ease Climate Change

 

Dietary Changes May Ease Climate Change

Some scientists are advising a dietary approach to climate change. They say eating less meat can mitigate¹ the effects of rising temperatures. However, the recommendation is being made at a time when meat consumption worldwide is on the rise.

Researchers at Britain’s University of Exeter say a rapidly rising population and a growing demand for meat is a bad combination when it comes to climate change. They say lifestyle changes, recycling plant material and wasting less food can help prevent – what they call – ecological² disaster.

Lots of hungry people

“With a growing human population that’s almost certainly going to be around the 9 and a half billion mark in the middle of this century – and with the trends towards on average eating more meat – then the real danger that we have is we’re going to almost literally³ run out of land for food production and natural ecosystems⁴ in particular,” said Professor Tim Lenton, co-author of the research.

He said the challenge is to continually improve land use efficiency.

“If we weren’t making any technological⁵ improvements in the efficiency of farming and food production, and especially meat production, then we calculated that the amount of land we’d need to meet the food demand in 2050 could be something like 9 billion hectares or nearly 90 percent of the productive land of the planet and nearly twice what we farm on and have pasture on today,” he said.

A growing demand for meat is not just coming from Western nations, but emerging economies like China and India.

“The trend heading if you like in a Western direction is perhaps understandable for those of us already enjoying quite a bit of meat in our diets. It is putting extra pressure on the planet and on the land surface. But the good side of it is that the increasing demands so far for meat from the emerging economies is being met largely by the most efficient forms of meat. That is eating pork and chicken rather than eating beef,” said Lenton.

However, efficient forms of meat production can mean mass production farms where animals are raised in very tight quarters. Critics describe these as cruel and inhumane and it’s one of the arguments made in favor of vegetarianism⁶.

Lenton said, “If the limits of the Earth’s land surface have to push us towards these more intensive means of producing meat, they certainly raise potentially significant animal welfare concerns.”

The research describes beef as being the least energy efficient meat source. Lenton says, however, producing meat more efficiently⁷ is one way to deal with greenhouse gasses. Another way is simply to eat less meat, which the researchers recommend.

“If we could somewhat stem the rising enthusiasm for meat eating in the world or reverse that trend then that would make a big contribution. We’d be talking about just going back to the kind of global average diet in the 1970s or the 1980s. But for Westerners on average that would mean a big change, potentially halving⁸ of meat intake⁹ and that’s not something that we’ve really culturally come to grips with I think,” he said.

The University of Exeter study also recommends recycling plant waste to help rebalance the global carbon cycle. That includes trapping carbon in the land and not releasing it into the atmosphere.

“Best way to do this,” said Lenton, “may well be to turn it into charcoal¹⁰ and add the charcoal back into the soils of the farm, which is being described as bio-char in the lingo¹¹, but is for poor soils, for example, a way of improving soil quality, [improving] water retention¹² in the soil and nutrient¹³ retention.

The research appears in the journal Energy and Environmental Science.

1 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

2 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

5 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

6 vegetarianism   

n.素食，素食主义

参考例句：

• More and more people are believing in vegetarianism and diet for health. 而今越来越多的人们相信素食和节食有利于身体健康。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is an exponent of vegetarianism. 她是一个素食主义的倡导者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

8 halving   

n.对分，二等分，减半[航空、航海]等分v.把…分成两半( halve的现在分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• You searched those halving your salary cut your enthusiasm. 你呈现，薪水减半降低了你的任务热情。 来自互联网
• Halving the repeater spacing made it possible to quadruple the bandwidth. 把增音机间隔缩小一半，就能使带宽增加三倍。 来自互联网

9 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

10 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

11 lingo   

n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语

参考例句：

• If you live abroad it helps to know the local lingo.住在国外，学一点当地的语言自有好处。
• Don't use all that technical lingo try and explain in plain English.别尽用那种专门术语，用普通的词语解释吧。

12 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

13 nutrient   

adj.营养的，滋养的；n.营养物，营养品

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The roots transmit moisture and nutrient to the trunk and branches.根将水分和养料输送到干和枝。