The U.S. energy secretary says global warming is proceeding more quickly than originally predicted. Stephen Chu is in China, the world's top emitter of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, to urge greater Sino-American cooperation to combat the problem.
美国能源部长朱棣文说，全球气候变暖的速度要比最初预料的快。正在中国访问的朱棣文敦促美中两国合作防范全球气候变暖。
Energy Secretary Stephen Chu told an overflow audience at Beijing's Tsinghua University that climate change is a growing and urgent problem. He says an effective solution will require stronger global cooperation.
美国能源部长朱棣文在北京清华大学对挤满会场的听众们说，气候变化问题日益严峻，而且十分紧迫。他说，只有加强国际合作，才能有效解决气候变暖问题。
"It's for this reason that one should not be saying, 'well, the developed world has thrown out [emitted] all this carbon - you made the problem, you fix it.' We all live in the same world," said Chu. "The developed world did make the problem, I admit that. But the developing world is going to make the problem much, much worse, and we're all in it together, so we have to fix it together."
朱棣文说：“正是出于这个原因，人们才不能说，‘是发达国家排放了所有的碳，你们制造了麻烦，应该自己解决。’我们都生活在同一个世界里。我承认，是发达国家制造了这个麻烦。但是发展中国家将会让这个麻烦变得更严重。我们都面对这个问题，所以必须共同解决。”
China and the United States are the world's top two emitters of carbon dioxide, from burning coal and oil. Many scientists believe carbon dioxide is one of the main reasons climate change is accelerating.
中国和美国是世界上两个最大的二氧化碳排放国，烧煤和用油造成了二氧化碳的排放。许多科学家相信，二氧化碳是造成气候变化速度加快的主要原因之一。
"China and the US, together, now constitute 42 percent of all the carbon dioxide emitted in the world today," he said. "And so, what the United States does and what China does in the coming decade will actually, in large part, determine the fate of the world."
朱棣文说：“如今中美两国排放的二氧化碳占世界排放总量的42%。所以说，美中两国在未来十年中的所作所为将真正决定世界的命运。”
The two governments on Wednesday announced the creation of a joint research center to develop clean energy sources.
美中两国政府星期三宣布成立联合研究中心，来开发清洁能源。
Chu's lengthy speech ran past the allotted time for questions from the students.
由于朱棣文演讲超时，学生们最后没有时间提问了。
This 19-year-old physics freshman, surnamed Kang, says he would have asked Chu whether the U.S. plans to share its latest technology to combat climate change.
一位19岁的物理系一年级姓康的学生说，他本想问问朱棣文，美国是否计划同别国分享美国在治理气候变化方面的最新技术。
Kang says this is important because the technological level in many countries still lags behind that of the United States.
他说：“能不能把他(美国)的一些已有的技术能够无私地传授给其他国家，因为其他国家的科学技术水平毕竟和美国还是有一定的差距的。”
Technology is not the main issue for this 25-year-old graduate student, surnamed Han, who is in Tsinghua's Built Environment Department.
清华大学建筑环境与设备工程研究所今年25岁姓韩的研究生说，技术不是她主要关心的问题。
To her, it is a matter of changing personal habits and attitudes. She points out that Chinese people, on average, use less energy than Americans.
对她来说，气候变暖事关一个人生活习惯和态度的改变。她指出，中国人平均使用的能源比美国人要少。
Han says for example, Americans use clothes dryers and dishwashers - all electric appliances. She says Chinese people like to hang their clothes to naturally and wash their dishes by hand.
她说：“中国人一直以来都崇尚勤俭节约，所以生活习惯上要比美国人节能得多，比如美国人有烘干机，还有洗碗机，就是一切都是自动化的设备，但中国人就喜欢自然地晾衣服，然后就是手洗碗，这些都很节能。”
At the same time, she says she is impressed with Chu, a Chinese-American Nobel Prize winner whose parents both graduated from Tsinghua University. She says if the U.S. and Chinese governments do cooperate to fight global warming, it can only be a good thing.
她同时表示，她对朱棣文印象深刻。美籍华人朱棣文曾经荣获诺贝尔奖，父母都毕业于清华大学。她说，如果美中两国政府能切实合作，治理全球暖化问题，这绝对是件好事。 |