VOA标准英语2012--UN Warns of Irreversible Damage to Planet

 

UN Warns of Irreversible Damage to Planet

The Global Environmental Outlook, or GEO5, says the world is on an unsustainable path, despite more than 500 international agreements. And scientific evidence says Earth's systems are being pushed toward their limits.

"We have some specific examples: carbon emissions¹ are continuing to grow, not decline," said Amy Fraenkel, who directs the U.N.'s Environmental Program in North America. "We already exceeded the safe levels of where scientists say we need to be reaching in the atmosphere for greenhouse gases. Biodiversity has declined, our oceans are not in good shape, our fisheries are not in good shape."

The report warns of unprecedented² damage if the current pattern of production and consumption of natural resources is not reversed.

James Dobrowolski, with the U.S. Agriculture Department, is one of the report's lead authors. He says population growth, urbanization, unsustainable consumption and the use of fossil fuels for energy all cause environmental change.

"Geo5 reports that 4.9 million deaths were attributable to environmental exposure to chemicals in 2004," said Dobrowolski. "That is from the World Health Organization. And chemical consumption in developing countries could account for a third of the global consumption by 2020."

Dobrowolski also cites computer and electronic waste as a major new source of pollution.

"Estimated at 20 to 50 million tons per year, e-waste has been identified as one of the really important emerging issues in GEO5," he said.

The report cites some successes, notably³ bans on lead in gasoline and ozone-depleting substances.

"The political challenge is to get the message across so even in financially difficult times, dealing⁴ with the environment is not an afterthought, is something that we do right now," said Fraenkel.

Fraenkel says there's an urgent need for a green economy and that's the message to the Rio+20 conference. 

1 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。