研究生英语教程Unit 1

Unit 1

Creating a Low-Carbon Economy

创建低碳生活

Overview

概述

1.There is no longer any real question that global warming is occurring as the result

of the rapid build-up of greenhouse gases primarily caused by human activities.

We are on a trajectory for global warming to become much more intense unless we begin a concerted, rapid shift toward a low-carbon economy. And the danger is increasingly clear and present. As Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, has said, “If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.”

对于主要由人类活动而迅速积累的温室气体引发了全球变暖这一事实，没有人再持有异议。除非我们协同一致，快速转向低碳经济，否则全球变暖的趋势将会愈演愈烈。这一危机日益彰显逼近。正如获得2007年诺贝尔和平奖的联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）主席拉金德拉·帕乔里所声称的：“如果在2012年之前我们还没有采取行动，那就为时已晚了。我们在未来两到三年中的所作所为将决定我们的未来。这是决定性的时刻。”

2.The Earth’s average temperature has already increased by 0.8°C（about 1.4°F）

over pre-industrial levels, increasing at a rate of 0.2°C per decade since 1975, and without changing our course, we will lock several more degrees of change into the system. Such temperature shifts may sound small, but they are not. During the last ice age, average global temperature was only about 5.4°C（about 9.7°F）colder than it is now.

同工业化前的水平相比，地球平均温度已经上升了0.8摄氏度（1.4华氏度左右），速度为自1975年以来每十年增加0.2摄氏度；如果我们仍然一意孤行，

那么温度还会继续发生永久性的变化。这种温度变化听起来似乎不大，但事实并非如此。最后一个冰河时代时的全球平均气温不过比现今低约5.4摄氏度（9.7华氏度）。

3.Many of our leading climate scientists have warned that if we exceed 2.0°C

（about 3.6°F）above pre-industrial times, we will enter a dangerous, uncharted territory. No one knows at what precise temperature the effects of global warming become intolerably large, whether as a result of gradual worsening of droughts, floods, hurricanes, and heat waves or as a result of abrupt, catastrophic change, such as the collapse of the Greenland or West Antarctic ice sheets and the accompanying global swell in sea levels. But we are conducting a dangerous uncontrolled experiment with the only home we have. This is why young people in increasing numbers are starting to see climate change as the challenge of their generation.

很多权威的气候学家们都曾发出过这样的警告：如果我们现在的温度超过工业化前2摄氏度（3.6华氏度）的话，我们将会迈进一个危险的未知国度。

没有人能知道到底全球变暖具体达到多少度会变得无法控制，并且造成像干旱、洪水、飓风以及热浪等自然灾害的逐渐恶化，造成诸如格陵兰岛或西南极洲大冰原坍塌以及伴随的全球海平面上升等意外的灾难性变化。但是我们还依然在我们唯一的家园上不断做着危险而又不受约束的尝试，这也是为什么越来越多的年轻人开始将气候变化视为他们这一代人的一项挑战。

4.The Washington Post reported in April that, “For many children and young adults,

global warming is the atomic bomb of today. Fears of an environmental crisis are defining their generation in ways that the Depression, World War Ⅱ, Vietnam and the Cold War’s lingering ‘War Games’ etched souls in the 20th century.”

《华盛顿邮报》4月刊报导到：“对于许多儿童和青年而言，全球气候变暖无异于当今的原子弹。对于环境危机的担忧正影响着这一代人，正如经济大萧条、第二次世界大战、越南战争和冷战等等挥之不去的‘战争游戏’影响了20世纪的灵魂一样。”

5.Some of the dire projections may not occur, but in light of the warnings from our

best scientists, it would beyond irresponsible to take that bet. Scientists are telling

us if we do not take action soon, it will be late to avoid the most serious consequences of global warming.

有些可怕的预测可能并不会发生，但考虑到那些最优秀的科学家们发出的警告，如果我们再冒险尝试将是极不负责任的做法。科学家告诉我们，如果我们不尽快采取行动，想要避免全球变暖引发的最严重恶果则为时晚矣。Environment Costs

环境损失

6.The projected environment consequences of climate change are well known. The

only thing that keeps changing, with the steady drumbeat of new and better scientific data and analysis, is that the picture gets more and more serious. In the words of Harvard’s John Holdren, one of our leading science policy thinkers, global climate change is the most dangerous of all environment problems because climate represents the envelope within which our natural systems operate. By badly disrupting that envelope, we “adversely affect every dimension of human well-being that is tied to the environment.”

气候变化对环境所造成的后果预测众所周知。依据稳健可靠的优新科学数据分析，唯一保持不断变化的景象就是越来越糟的环境。作为首席科学政策专家之一，哈佛大学的约翰·霍尔德伦指出，在所有环境问题中全球气候变化是最危险的，因为气候就像一个信封，保障其中所有自然生态系统正常运作。

如果这一包裹层遭到严重破坏，我们就会“对环境影响下人类福祉的每一个层面产生不利影响。”

7.The Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change Impacts released in April

2007 by the IPCC, the official body of over 2,000 scientists acting under the auspices of the United Nations, presents a stark picture. The IPCC report says that “human induced climate change is already affecting physical and biological processes on all continents and some oceans.” Among other impacts, the report warns of:

在联合国的主持下，IPCC2000多名科学家组成的官方机构于2007年4月发布了关于气候变化影响的第四次评估报告，为人们展示了一幅鲜明的预警

图。IPCC的报告声称“人类活动引起的气候变化已经影响到所有大陆和一些海洋的物理及生物进程”。在诸多影响中，该报告尤其警告：

●Extreme weather events such as drought, floods, and severe storms, including

hurricanes, becoming more intense and inflicting greater damage to life and property.

极端天气事件，如干旱、洪水和严重的风暴，包括飓风，将变得更加严重，对生命和财产造成更大损害。

●Increasing hurricane intensity.（other recent scientific findings suggest that

not just the intensity but also the frequency of hurricanes is increasing with rising sea-surface temperatures.）

飓风强度增加。（其他最新科学研究结果表明，不只是强度，飓风的频率也会增加，同时伴随海表面温度升高）。

●Rising sea levels threatening the mega-delta regions of Asia, coastal cities in

Europe, low-lying areas in North and Latin America, and small islands. The melting of the Greenland ice sheet alone could lead to a sea-level rise of seven meters.

海平面上升，威胁亚洲的大型三角洲地区、欧洲沿海城市、北美和拉丁美洲的低洼地区，及小岛屿。单是格陵兰冰原融化就可能导致海平面上升7米。

●Increased water scarcity facing 1 billion to 2 billion people.

水资源匮乏问题恶化，10亿至20亿人口面临缺水。

●Increased risk of heat- and flood-related mortality and of water and

food-borne diseases.

发生高温及洪水造成死亡、水及食物传染疾病的风险增加。

●Declining crop yields and increased hunger in some regions, including parts

of Africa and Asia.

作物产量下降，一些地区饥荒严重，包括非洲和亚洲的部分地区。

●Degrading fisheries.

渔业不景气。

●Declining coral reef systems.

珊瑚礁系统退化。

Extinction facing 20 percent to 30 percent of global plant and animal life.

全球20％至30％的植物和动物面临灭绝。

Economic Costs

经济损失

8.There is substantial uncertainty about the precise economic costs of climate

change, but if we continue to our current path there is little doubt that overall they would be very large. A look at trend lines from the insurance industry gives a hint of the kind of rising magnitude of damage we might see from just one projected effect of global warming —extreme weather events.

关于气候变化的具体经济成本很难确定，但如果我们不改变做法，这笔数字无疑会非常庞大。参考保险业的趋势，我们可以得到这样一个暗示，当损害程度上升到一定量时就会造成严重的后果，那么在全球变暖带来的诸多影响里，其中之一就是极端天气现象的产生。

9.At the meeting of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in

Morocco in 2001, large reinsurance companies（which offer insurance to other insurers）such as Swiss Re and Munich Re warned of the increase in extreme weather events. According to Munich Re, “The number of really big weather disasters has increased four-fold if we compare the last decade to the 1960s. The economic losses have leaped seven-fold and the insured losses are 11 times greater.” In 2004, Swiss Re warned in a report that the costs of natural disasters, aggravated by climate change, threatened to double to $150 billion a year in 10 years.

2001年在摩洛哥举行的联合国气候变化框架公约会议上，如瑞士和慕尼黑等大型再保险公司（为其他保险公司提供保险）发出警告表示极端天气事件一再增加。据慕尼黑再保险公司声称：“如果我们把过去十年和20世纪60年代相比较，真正大灾害性天气的数量增加了4倍。经济损失已经扩大了7倍，保险损失也提高了11倍。”2004年瑞士再保险公司在一份报告中警告说，气候变化加剧导致的自然灾害损失在未来10年内可能每年都会翻倍至1500

亿美元。

10.More systematically, the much discussed Stern Review of the Economics of

Climate Change, commissioned by the British government and authored by Sir Nicholas Stern, former Chief Economist for the World Bank, concludes that economic damages from climate change could be seismic:

由英国政府委托、前世界银行首席经济学家尼古拉斯·斯特恩爵士撰写的《斯特恩评论气候变化下的经济》引起了广泛讨论，他在其中更系统地总结到气候变化带来的经济损失可能影响巨大：

Our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on

a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and economic depression of

the first half of the twentieth century. And it will be difficult or impossible to reverse these changes.

在未来的几十年里，我们的行为可能会对经济和社会活动造成很大破坏，在本世纪末及下世纪，其规模类似二十世纪前半叶大战和经济衰退带来的相关影响。想要逆转这些变化很难，甚至是不可能的。

11.Stern sees the threat of this major disruption coming from a number of factors,

including the increased costs of damage from extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, hurricanes, heat waves, and major storms; the risk that such events affect global financial markets through higher or more volatile in insurance costs; and the risk of abrupt and large-scale climate change. Stern also points to the consequences of climate change on environment and on human health as economic growth and productivity suffer under the weight of degrading environmental conditions.

斯特恩认为造成这一重大破坏的成因很多，包括：如洪水、干旱、飓风、热浪、大暴雨等极端天气现象所造成的损失越来越大；由于保险费用更高或更不稳定，此类现象可能影响全球金融市场；同时存在突发大规模气候变化的风险。斯特恩还指出，迫于环境条件恶化，经济增长缓慢，生产力下降，气候变化对环境和人类健康可能带来哪些后果。

Building a Low-Carbon Economy

创建低碳经济

12.To design policies aimed at creating a low-carbon economy, we need to

understand first the extent to which global average temperatures can rise without triggering the dangerous consequences of global warming and, second, how low we need to keep the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases in order to stay within that temperature limit. both of these questions（the temperature limit and the concentration limit）must be answered based on scientific analysis of historic climate data and projections of future conditions, and state-of-the-art computer models paint a stark picture of what is to come.

想要设计旨在创建低碳经济的政策，我们首先需要了解在哪一范围内全球平均气温上升却不会触发全球变暖的危险后果。第二，在温度极限内要保持多低的大气温室气体浓度。回答这两个问题（温度极限和浓度极限）必须运用以历史气候数据为基础做出的科学分析和对未来状况的预测，以及通过最先进的计算机模型所描绘出鲜明的未来预测图。

13.As noted, global mean temperature is about 0.8°C（1.4°F）above pre-industrial

levels, and another 0.6°C（1.1°F）of further warming is probably built into the system already. Even if we cut off emissions tomorrow, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would continue rising since these gases persist in the atmosphere for a very long time –from decades to thousands of years after they are first emitted depending on the specific type of greenhouse gas.

如前所述，全球平均气温比工业化前的水平约高0.8 摄氏度（1.4 华氏度），并且将永久性再升高0.6 摄氏度（1.1 华氏度）。即使我们明天停止排放，大气中的温室气体浓度仍会继续上升，因为这些气体在大气中能保留很长时间——不同温室气体一经排放，可能保留几十年甚至几千年。

14.The evidence is mounting for the need to maintain global average temperatures at

no more than approximately 2.0°C（3.6°F）above pre-industrial levels, a level the Center for Am erican Progress and others called for in 2005 in “Meeting the Climate Challenge,” the report of the International Climate Change Task Force

that was chaired by Sen. Olympia Snowe（R-ME）and U.K. Member of Parliament Stephen Byers. As John Holdren has discussed, the scientific view of an appropriate temperature target has evolved recently downward:

其证据是我们曾努力将全球平均气温保持在不超出工业化前温度约 2.0 摄氏度（3.6 华氏度）的水平，这一水平是美国进步中心及其他组织在2005 年撰写的一份名为《迎接气候挑战需要》的报告中所倡导的，该报告隶属于由参议员奥林匹亚·斯诺（R-ME）和英国议员斯蒂芬·拜尔斯主持的国际气候变化专题小组。约翰·霍尔德伦讨论到，科学观点所认为的适当温度目标最近已经下调：

Until a few years ago many analysis and groups were suggesting that stabilization of atmospheric concentrations at a level corresponding to a 3°C increase was in fact a suitable target…The last few years of accumulating evidence about impacts already being encountered at only 0.8°C above the pre –industrial average temperature, however, have led many analysis to argue for a more ambitious target, with some（including the European Union）settling on 2°C.

几年前，许多分析师和团体均表明将大气浓度稳定在上升3摄氏度的水平是合适的目标……但是前几年比工业化前平均温度仅高出的0.8摄氏度所产生的种种影响已经使得许多分析家坚决主张应该制定一个更高目标，一些国家（包括欧盟）将其设定在2 摄氏度。

15.If a temperature target in this range is not maintained, the planet faces serious

risks. In a February 2007 statement to U.N Secretary - General Ban Ki -moon, and the U.K. Commission on Sustainable Development, Holdren said:

如果这一范围内的温度目标没有实现，地球将面临严重风险。霍尔德伦在2007年2月向联合国秘书长潘基文及联合国可持续发展委员提交的声明中说：

If the build-up of greenhouse gases pushes the global average surface temperature past 2-2.5°C above the pre-industrial level, the danger of intolerable and unmanageable impacts of climate change on human well-being becomes very high.

如果温室气体累积，将全球平均地表温度提升至比工业化前水平高2-2.5摄氏度的水平，那么人类将难以承受、无法治理的气候变化就非常有可能发生，并对人类的福祉产生影响。

16.Dr. James Hansen, the noted climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institude for

Space Studies, has issued similar warnings:

美国宇航局戈达德空间研究所的著名气候学家詹姆斯·汉森博士发出了类似的警告：

We conclude that global warming of more than about 1°C, relative to 2000, will constitute “dangerous” climate change as judged from likely effects on sea level and extermination of species.

我们的结论是相对2000年的，全球气候变暖超过1摄氏度将构成“危险”的气候变化，这一点从海平面上升和物种灭绝可能产生的影响就可以做出判断。

17.The IPCC, in its Fourth Assessment Report on Mitigation of Climate Change,

published in May 2007, analyzes the concentration levels that correspond to estimated increases in the global mean average temperature above pre-industrial levels. According to this analysis, keeping average temperature to an increase in the range of 2.0°C to 2.4°C would require a CO2 equivalent concentration – or CO2e, which is a measurement that expresses the global warming potential of all greenhouse gases compared to CO2– in the range of 445 parts per million to 490 parts per million, a highly ambitious target.

IPCC在2007年5月出版的第四次气候变化减缓评估报告中分析到，现在的大气浓度同工业化前全球平均气温预计的升高程度持平。根据这一分析，平均温度保持在2.0摄氏度到2.4摄氏度的增长范围内将需要CO2等量浓度——或CO2e，即和CO2相比所有温室气体的全球变暖潜力的测量方式——范围为445等份/百万至490等份/百万，这一目标有相当难度。

18.The challenge before us, then, is clear, and nothing is gained by delay. If we

ignore the risks of climate change and oil dependence, or fail to mobilize the political will needed to address them, then we will ultimately be forced into a much more costly and much less effective crash program down the road. A

short-sighted, business-as-usual approach to climate change will make it more difficult to cope with increased disaster-related damage in the future and force us to abandon existing infrastructure and equipment and any new physical capital we improvidently deploy without regard to global warming.

那么，摆在我们面前的挑战就显而易见、刻不容缓了。如果我们忽视了气候变化和依赖石油的风险，或不能左右政府来解决它们，那么我们终将被迫采取更加昂贵但又低效的应急方案。应对气候变化采用目光短浅、一切照旧的方法，将来应付越来越多的灾害损失就会变得更难，我们也会被迫放弃不顾全球变暖而投入的现有基础设施设备及任何新的物质资本。

19.Moreover, we would incur a very large opportunity cost, having lost out on the

chance to become the economic leader in developing alternative and more efficient uses of energy. Instead, we should seize the moment of challenge and opportunity now to start building the low-carbon economy.

此外，我们将与成为开发替代能源和高效能源使用的历史机遇以及经济领导地位失之交臂。相反，我们应该抓住现在的挑战和机遇，开始创建低碳经济。

Unit 1 Low Carbon Economy

Text A Creating a Low Carbon Economy

4. Translation

a. Chinese to English

1) Translate the following sentences into English.

(1) Bending under the weight of the packs, sweating, they climbed steadily in the pine forest that covered the mountainside.

(2) Concentrating on time passing, as we do when bored, will trigger brain activity which will make it seem as though the clock is ticking more slowly.

(3) Unemployment shot up in France during the second quarter, and the country’s top finance official said the situation will continue to aggravate even if a global economic recovery gathers pace. It was the worst quarterly unemployment in France since early 2006.

(4) As social practice continues to develop, we should keep renewing our ideas and make innovations courageously in light of practical needs.

(5) Bicycles are regarded as an economical alternative to buses whose fares have increased 3 times in the past few years.

(6) The U.S. government has called on people to save water because the scarcity of water has become a source of global tension ecologically, economically and politically.

(7) In order to be a recognized leader in the industry, it’s essential for a company to improve production quality and tap the overseas market through the help of state of the art technologies and equipment.

(8) If you are thinking about coming to Britain for Christmas, it might be a good idea to think again. That’s because thousands of Christmas travelers have been stranded in the UK as adverse weather conditions caused massive disruption to the transport infrastructure.

2) Translate the following paragraphs into English.

Scientists say the warming of the planet will be gradual, but that extreme weather events will increase in frequency and intensity. They say the effects of more storms, floods, droughts and heat waves will be abrupt and profound. The World Health Organization says the effects of so called climate sensitive diseases already are killing millions of people.

Climate change is a global phenomenon. While no country will be exempt, she says its consequences will not be evenly distributed. The WHO chief says poor countries that already are struggling with huge problems will be most affected. Fragile health systems in the developing world will come under increased stress. They will have great difficulty coping with the increased burden of disease and other health problems.

b. English to Chinese

1) Translate the following paragraph into Chinese.

很多权威的气候学家们都曾发出过这样的警告: 如果我们现在的温度超过工业化前2摄氏度( 3.6华氏度)的话,我们将会迈进一个危险的未知国度。没有人能知道到底全球变暖达到多少度会变得无法控制,并且造成像干旱、洪水、飓风以及热浪等自然灾害的逐渐恶化,造成诸如格陵兰岛或西南极洲大冰原坍塌以及伴随的全球海平面上升等意外的灾难性变化。但是我们还依然在我们唯一的家身上不断做着危险而又不受约束的尝试,这也是为什么越来越多的年轻人开始将气候变化视为他们这一代人的一项挑战。

2) Read the following passage carefully and translate the underlined sentences into Chinese. (1) 双方相信,应对气候变化应该尊重发展中国家把经济和社会发展作为优先事项,并相信向低碳经济转型是促进所有国家经济持续增长和可持续发展的机会。

(2) 中美双方决心根据各自国情采取重要减缓行动,并认识到两国在促成加强世界应对气候变化能力的可持续成果方面具有重要作用。双方决心支持这些承诺。

(3) 在此背景下,双方致力于在哥本哈根会议达成最终的法律协议,同时相信,在共同但有区别的责任原则和各自能力的基础上,达成的成果应包括发达国家的减排目标和发展中国家的国内适当减缓行动。

(4) 基于中美两国在电动汽车领域的巨大投资,两国政府宣布在十几个城市开展联合示范项目,并努力开发共同的技术标准以推动此产业规模快速增长。

(5) 通过该伙伴关系,两国将就大规模利用风能、太阳能、先进生物燃料和现代电网制定路线,在设计和执行实现这一远景所需的政策和技术手段方面进行合作。