美国国家公共电台 NPR--Losses from U.S. weather and climate disaster events are getting more costly

Losses from U.S. weather and climate disaster events are getting more costly¹

Transcript²

NPR's Leila Fadel talks with Susan Joy Hassol of the nonprofit Climate Communication about the increasing toll³ from extreme weather events nationwide.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

California isn't the only state where extreme weather events are increasingly costly. Last year alone, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric⁴ Administration looked at the whole country and found 18 weather and climate disasters where losses topped $1 billion each. Susan Joy Hassol is a director of the nonprofit Climate Communication, and she's spent the past three decades working to help people understand climate change. Susan, I actually just said the word - or the term climate change. You don't use that. You prefer climate disruption. Why do words matter here?

SUSAN JOY HASSOL: Well, words really do matter because they affect the way we think and feel about things. So, for example, some people are calling this crazy, wild weather we're seeing a new normal. But I call it a new abnormal. We shouldn't - there's nothing normal about it. We shouldn't normalize it and come to accept it. It should alarm us enough to spur more urgent climate action. You know, I also call what some people call natural disasters - in many cases, these weather disasters are unnatural⁵ disasters. And, you know, when you call something the new normal, it implies that we've come to a new steady state. But this is only the beginning. It's going to keep getting worse until we eliminate heat-trapping pollution.

MART?NEZ: Yeah, and change certainly feels a lot softer than disruption.

HASSOL: Yeah. You know, any kind of climate change for any reason is referred to as climate change. This is now human-caused climate disruption.

MART?NEZ: Now, as more people experience the costs of extreme weather, are you hopeful at all that there will be maybe more of an effort to address this climate emergency?

HASSOL: Well, absolutely. This is really, now, up close and personal. You know, this is not projections⁶ of the future. We're seeing it right outside our windows. And most Americans are now experiencing these kinds of disasters - floods, wildfires and the like. Seventy percent of Americans have experienced those things in the last few years, and they're coming to recognize that because of those - that extreme weather and the exacerbation⁷ of that, that this really is a crisis. And I think they are more willing and want to address it. The good news is that they like clean energy, and that's the main solution.

MART?NEZ: And it took, you know, billions and billions in losses - in actual losses to people's pocketbook - to actually get to the point where I think we're starting to care a little bit more about this, right? And it took that - right? - and not maybe just some science.

HASSOL: Well, absolutely. You know, people who think that if we just explain the science a little better and more clearly - or like the typical American tourist in Paris, thinking that if they just speak English more loudly and slowly, that people will understand them. But, you know, it's not about that. It's about people experiencing this on their own. Well, you know, the good news is really that tackling climate change does not need to be about sacrifice and deprivation⁸. It can be about opportunity and improvement in our lives, our health and our well-being⁹. It can be a story of humans flourishing in a post-fossil fuel age.

MART?NEZ: So, Susan, how do you think scientists and policymakers should be talking about the issue? Because for a lot of people, it feels overwhelming, like they can't do enough, even if they do something in their lives. So how do you think this needs to be communicated? Got about 30 seconds left.

HASSOL: Yeah. Well, you know, these are things that we want to do anyway. Doing what we need to do to preserve a livable climate will also give us cleaner air, friendlier, more walkable communities, will send fewer kids to the hospital with asthma¹⁰. It'll be the best thing for our personal health as well as our planetary health.

MART?NEZ: That's Susan Joy Hassol of Climate Communication. Susan, thank you.

HASSOL: Thank you, A.

(SOUNDBITE OF MAMMAL HANDS' "RIDDLE")

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 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。

4 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

5 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

6 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

7 exacerbation   

n.恶化，激怒，增剧；转剧

参考例句：

• Bleeding may be herralded by several day of exacerbation of pain. 数天的疼痛加剧可能为出血的先兆。 来自辞典例句
• For several days, he has had an exacerbation of ulcer symptoms. 近日他溃疡病症状加剧。 来自辞典例句

8 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

9 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

10 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。