时代周刊:极端天气频发敲响气候变暖警钟(1)

Life and Death in a Hotter World

高温世界的生与死

The parched¹, burning U.S. West signals a grim future

灼热的美国西部预示着严峻的未来

BY JUSTIN WORLAND

作者：贾斯汀·沃兰

The Aug. 9 warning from The u.n. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) couldn't be more clear:

联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会(IPCC)8月9日发出的警告再清楚不过了：

the reality of climate change is unequivocal, its effects are already playing out in every region of the planet, and we need to act now before the outlook gets worse.

气候变化的现实是不容置疑的，它的影响已经在地球上的每一个地区显现，在前景变得更糟之前，我们需要现在就行动起来。

In a 4,000-page report, the U.N.'s climate-science body laid out in methodical detail the ways in which human activity has set life on the planet on a collision course.

在一份长达4000页的报告中，联合国气候科学机构有条不紊地详细阐述了人类活动是如何将地球上的生命置于碰撞轨道上的。

Today, the effects of climate change are already pervasive²; if we continue to emit greenhouse gases at current rates, the effects of climate change will be catastrophic and irreversible.

今天，气候变化的影响已经无处不在。如果我们继续以目前的速度排放温室气体，那么气候变化的影响将是灾难性的且不可逆转的。

"Recent changes in the climate are widespread, rapid and intensifying—unprecedented in thousands of years," says Ko Barrett, a vice³ chair of the IPCC.

政府间气候变化专门委员会副主席柯·巴雷特说：“最近的气候变化范围广、速度快且强度大——这是数千年来前所未有的。”

It's a revelation both shocking to read and perhaps painfully obvious for the countless⁴ people who are already feeling the effects—

这一启示令人震惊，但对于无数已经感受到影响的人来说，或许是显而易见的痛苦——

from Germans whose homes were wiped away by floods this year to farmers suffering from ongoing⁵ drought in Central America.

从今年房屋被洪水冲走的德国人，到遭受持续干旱的中美洲农民。

In the U.S. the nascent⁶ climate crisis appears most dramatic in the West, where a combination of drought and extreme heat has created life-threatening conditions.

在美国，刚刚开始的气候危机在西部表现得最为严重，那里的干旱和极端高温造成了危及生命的条件。

TIME sent photographer Adam Ferguson on the road across six Western states—from Arizona to Washington—for more than five weeks in June and July to document how climate change is shaping life on the ground.

6月至7月，《时代周刊》派摄影师亚当·弗格森穿越了美国西部的6个州，从亚利桑那州到华盛顿，历时5个多星期，记录气候变化对地面生活的影响。

He captured images of empty reservoirs and families who lost loved ones to unbearable⁷ heat.

他拍到的画面里有空了的水库，有因难以忍受的高温失去亲人的家庭。

He encountered farmers worried about watering their crops and saw the devastation⁸ left by wildfires.

他遇到了担心浇庄稼的农民，看到了野火造成的破坏。

It's a searing warning from a particularly iconic region on a planet that is, in so many places, on fire, parched or underwater.

在这个星球上，有很多地方在燃烧、干旱或者被水淹没，这是来自一个具有代表性的地区发出的严重警告。

1 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

2 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 nascent   

adj.初生的，发生中的

参考例句：

• That slim book showed the Chinese intelligentsia and the nascent working class.那本小册子讲述了中国的知识界和新兴的工人阶级。
• Despite a nascent democracy movement,there's little traction for direct suffrage.尽管有过一次新生的民主运动，但几乎不会带来直接选举。

7 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

8 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》