Speaking at the Sustainable Development conference in London, Britain's chief scientific advisor warns that under the backdrop of a growing global population, the world will face a "perfect storm" of threats as food, water and energy shortages combine to impact society by the year 2030.
英国政府的首席科学顾问在伦敦召开的可持续发展会议上警告说，在全球人口持续增长的背景下，食品、水源、和能源短缺对人类的威胁日益加重，世界将在2030年前面临一场由这些因素交织而成的“完美风暴”。
Dr. John Beddington says in just more than 20 years, the world's population will reach 8.3 billion. In and of itself, that means needs will be greater in the future. As this happens, Britain's chief scientific advisor warns that resources will be under increased pressure and climate change will also come into play, exacerbating problems.
担任英国政府首席科学顾问的伦敦大学帝国理工学院教授约翰·贝丁顿博士说，再过20多年，全球人口将增加到大约83亿。仅此一点，就意味着全球资源需求将在未来变得更大。贝丁顿博士警告说，资源短缺压力将急剧增加，气候变化将使问题恶化。
"There is an increase in the demand for food. That is going to be up by about 50 percent by 2030," Dr. Beddington said. "The increase in demand for energy is going to be up by a similar amount and the demand for fresh water, which is really very important, is going to be up by something like 30 or 40 percent."
贝丁顿：“食品需求在2030年前将增加大约百分之50。能源需求也将以类似幅度增加。另一项重要资源，淡水的需求也会增加大约百分之30到40。”
Professor Beddington says now that oil prices have dropped again, domestic and international pressure to deal with energy issues that we will have to confront in the future may well decline.
贝丁顿博士说，由于原油价格再次下滑，各国国内和国际间要求解决未来能源问题的压力也可能随之减弱。
But he underlines it is absolutely imperative to develop green solutions to lessen the impact that climate change will inevitably bring.
他强调，通过绿色环保方式来缓解气候变化产生的不可避免的影响至关重要。
"I think the world community is taking that very seriously. You know, the major meeting is coming in Copenhagen at the end of the year. So I think that climate change is very high up the agenda. Similarly, I think food security is up the agenda and needs to be but I think that the problem of water security I think is really not being addressed properly," he said.
贝丁顿：“我认为国际社会对这个问题相当重视。今年年底，哥本哈根将主办一次非常重要的会议。我认为气候变化将是会议的主导议题。与之类似，我认为粮食安全也将会是主要议题，这是必要的。不过，我认为水资源的安全问题仍未得到妥善的关注。”
The U.N. Environment Program predicts the amount of fresh water available will drop off sharply in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe by the year 2025.
联合国环境规划署预计，截至2025年，非洲部分地区、亚洲、欧洲可供使用的淡水资源将急剧减少。
Dr. Beddington says part of his message is these next two decades must be used wisely if the world is to be better prepared to cope with the threats we will face.
贝丁顿博士说，如果国际社会要更好地准备应对我们将会面临的威胁，就必须在未来的20年里采取明智措施。
"If we are going to use science and technology to address some of these problems, we are going to need to get that science and technology in place well in time to actually address issues," Dr. Beddington said.
贝丁顿：“如果我们要用科技手段来解决其中一些问题，我们就必须从现在开始未雨绸缪。”
If little is done in the coming years, Beddington says the "perfect storm" of threats will increase the likelihood of unrest, conflict and mass migration in various parts of the world.
贝丁顿博士警告说，如果未来数年内没有充分准备的话，食品、水源、和能源短缺交织而成的“完美风暴”将在世界很多地区增加动乱、冲突、以及大规模人口迁徙的可能。 |