Chinese public more familiar with climate change

 Chinese public more familiar with climate change

BEIJING, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- A survey released on Thursday shows that a majority of Chinese people are familiar with issues related to climate change and they believe it has been caused by human activities and inflicts¹ suffering on the country, but especially farmers.

The survey, conducted by the Center for China Climate Change Communication (CCCCC), randomly² selected and polled more than 4,000 mainland residents aged³ between 18 and 70 from July to September. The survey was conducted ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7 in Doha, Qatar.

About 93 percent of respondents agree that climate change has already taken its toll⁴. The figure stands at 62 percent in the United States, according to similar surveys conducted by Yale University, and at 75 percent in Britain, based on a survey carried out by the BBC two years ago.

The CCCCC survey shows that 77.7 percent of respondents worry about the impact of climate change and are willing to pay more money to purchase environmentally-friendly products, with male respondents being more likely to worry and change their spending habits than female respondents.

However, only 34 percent of respondents spends time sorting garbage in China, the survey shows.

Television is the major channel for the public to receive climate change information, followed by cell phones and the Internet, it says.

Farmers know more about climate change than urbanites, according to the survey, and nearly 48 percent of those surveyed believe that rural residents suffer more from climate change.

China's 674 million rural residents, especially those living in absolute poverty, are susceptible⁵ to natural disasters.

A farmer in northwest China's Gansu Province once said, "A decade ago, rainfalls were regular, but now the climate is unpredictable and we feel it is hard to live."

Feng Yulin, head of Xiahu Village, Chicheng County, located adjacent to Beijing, remembers a time when the hills around his village teemed⁶ with green grass and vegetation, a time when water could be easily found in the soil near his home. These days, many of the hills surrounding the village of Xiahu in north China's Hebei Province are almost completely bare and even the deepest wells have dried up. Overgrazing is part of the reason.

"Dealing⁷ with climate change requires public participation," said Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's economic planner, in the preface to a report based on the CCCCC survey.

The report will serve as a reference tool for the government, public institutions and researchers in making policies and decisions, Xie said.

China's per capita resources are deficient⁸, its ecological⁹ environment vulnerable and natural disasters frequent.

China sticks to "the common but differentiated¹⁰ responsibilities" theory in international climate talks, as the country's per capita and historical emissions¹¹ of greenhouse gases are far below those of developed nations, although rapid economic development and its population base has made China a big producer of greenhouse gases at present.

Such a situation adds great pressure on China in international talks, which was apparent at the Copenhagen climate change meeting in December 2009.

"Excessive attention to technical differences in climate talks will lead to public ignorance of the real issues of combating climate change, which are mitigation, adaptation and global cooperation," said Sun Zhen, a senior official of the NDRC's climate change department.

China has integrated combatting climate change into its national strategies for the transformation¹² of its economic growth mode and economic restructuring. The 12th Five-year Plan (2011-2015) shows the emphasis on green and low-carbon development.

The CCCCC was founded in April 2010, following the Copenhagen conference, by Oxfam, a non-governmental organization, and Renmin University of China's journalism¹³ and social development research center.

1 inflicts   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Bullfrog 50 Inflicts poison when your enemy damages you at short range. 牛娃50对近距离攻击你的敌人造成毒伤。
• The U.S. always inflicts its concept of human nature on other nations. 美国总是把自己的人权观念强加于别国。

2 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

6 teemed   

v.充满( teem的过去式和过去分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The pond teemed with tadpoles. 池子里有很多蝌蚪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ideas of new plays and short stories teemed in his head. 他的脑海里装满了有关新的剧本和短篇小说的构思。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。

9 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

10 differentiated   

区分，区别，辨别( differentiate的过去式和过去分词 )； 区别对待； 表明…间的差别，构成…间差别的特征

参考例句：

• The development of mouse kidney tubules requires two kinds of differentiated cells. 小鼠肾小管的发育需要有两种分化的细胞。
• In this enlargement, barley, alfalfa, and sugar beets can be differentiated. 在这张放大的照片上，大麦，苜蓿和甜菜都能被区分开。

11 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。

12 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

13 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。