美国国家公共电台 NPR How Climate Change Is Already Affecting Health, Spreading Disease

How Climate Change Is Already Affecting Health, Spreading Disease

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

So scientists have been predicting for decades how climate change might hurt people's health. Well, now they say they are beginning to see actual damage. These results come from a large international collaboration¹ with two dozen universities and U.N. agencies. NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff reports.

MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE²: In the past few decades, the average temperature people have experienced around the world has gone up by about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit³. That change may seem small, but Kim Knowlton at Columbia University says it has had two main consequences on health. First off, there's been a spike⁴ in heat waves worldwide. The number of vulnerable people exposed has shot up more than six times.

KIM KNOWLTON: In one particular year, 2015, there were 175 million more people exposed to extreme heat. That is not just an inconvenience. Heat kills people.

DOUCLEFF: And it exacerbates⁵ existing health problems such as heart disease and kidney failure. Then there's the rise in weather-related disasters. The study found the frequency of floods, droughts and wildfires has increased by almost 50 percent since 2000, and some of that surge is because of climate change. Knowlton says people around the world are experiencing this firsthand.

KNOWLTON: And, you know, people are suffering. Communities are hurting. People are reeling globally. And I think that's the turning point, that people are connecting the dots between climate change and health here and now.

DOUCLEFF: In terms of infectious diseases, climate change often gets blamed for causing the rise of mosquito-borne viruses like Zika, but other factors have likely contributed more to their spread, like urbanization and travel. The study, published in The Lancet journal, found a tiny link between climate change and dengue fever, another mosquito-borne virus, but not a link to any other diseases. The study also looks at what countries are doing to slow down climate change. Nick Watts⁶ at the University College London led the study. He says this is the part with a tiny, tiny sliver⁷ of hope.

NICK WATTS: That's probably the part of this that really surprised me.

DOUCLEFF: For more than two decades, he says, countries had been basically doing very little to reduce carbon emissions⁸.

WATTS: Taken as a whole, for the last 25 years, we broadly see that progress has been woefully inadequate⁹.

DOUCLEFF: But now there are signs the tide is turning, at least a small amount.

WATTS: Just at the last five years we've started to see an acceleration¹⁰ in the response to climate change, and that's something really exciting because I think we could all use a little bit of hope at the moment.

DOUCLEFF: In particular, Watts says, the use of coal around the world has slowed down and possibly even peaked.

WATTS: And we've seen it decline, and we're continuing to see it decline right the way up to 2016 when our data stops. of coal.

DOUCLEFF: Instead of coal, Watts says some countries are relying more on natural gas and are starting to swap¹¹ in renewable energy sources, which not only reduce carbon emissions but also make the air healthier to breathe. Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR News.

1 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

4 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

5 exacerbates   

n.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的名词复数 )v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Stripping the land in these ways allows faster surface runoff and exacerbates flooding. 这些做法终将使土地裸露、地表径流加快，从而加重了洪水的威胁。 来自辞典例句
• This policy exacerbates the gap between rich and poor. 这项政策加剧了贫富差距。 来自互联网

6 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

7 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

8 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。

9 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

10 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

11 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。