VOA标准英语2010年-Raising Food Rivals Fossil Fuels in En

New UN report highlights livestock¹ production as major environmental threat

Steve Baragona | Washington, DC 04 June 2010
 

A new United Nations report singles out food production as a major factor driving environmental degradation².

Raising animals for food damages the environment as much as fossil fuel use, according to a new UN report.

A panel of 27 experts with the UN Environment Program looked through previous UN reports to assess what economic activities generate the most pollution and use the most resources.

Most of the data comes from the industrialized world. Not surprisingly, burning fossil fuels for transportation and electrical generation top the list for their contributions to climate change, acid rain and toxic³ pollution.

But the report singles out food production as the other major factor driving environmental degradation.

Farms pollute, consume

The report notes that raising livestock and clearing land for farms and ranches⁴ are significant greenhouse-gas emitters.

Fertilizers and pesticides⁵ are the largest contributors to water pollution. And the world's insatiable appetite is depleting⁶ the planet's fisheries and using up land and fresh water at an alarming rate.

The growing demand for meat and dairy products is putting particular strain on the environment.

"In order to raise cattle, basically you need to consume a lot of feed," says study co-author Sangwon Suh at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "And in order to produce feed, you need to use land, fertilizers and agrochemicals which, in turn, affect our environment."

A world with less meat?

The report concludes, "A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products."

Gale⁷ Buchanan, a former under-secretary at the US Department of Agriculture, says that's going too far.

"My reaction to the document is: we have problems. Let's do the research to try to fix the problems rather than changing the whole diet of the human race," he says.

It's human nature to want more meat and dairy, Buchanana says, and that will be very difficult to change. He calls for a major increase in agricultural research into ways to increase food production while tackling the environmental challenges.
 

1 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

2 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

3 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

4 ranches   

大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They hauled feedlot manure from the ranches to fertilize their fields. 他们从牧场的饲养场拖走肥料去肥田。
• Many abandoned ranches are purchased or leased by other poultrymen. 许多被放弃的牧场会由其他家禽监主收买或租用。

5 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 depleting   

使大大的减少，使空虚( deplete的现在分词 )； 耗尽，使枯竭

参考例句：

• Regulations are outlawing certain refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons, which contain ozone-depleting chemicals. 随后出台的政策禁用了部分制冷剂，如破坏臭氧层的氟氯碳化合物。
• Aging, being a series of continual losses, can be keenly depleting. 老龄化，作为一个系列的连续亏损，可以清楚地消耗。

7 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。