全球社会热点新闻 素食更健康（在线收听）

Vegetarian diet is healthier

素食更健康

The food that people eat is just as important as what kind of cars they drive when it comes to creating the greenhouse-gas emissions that many scientists have linked to global warming, according to a report accepted for publication in the April issue of the journal Earth Interactions.

《地球互动》杂志4月刊上发表的一篇报告文章指出，人们的饮食习惯与人们驾驶的汽车类型一样，对于温室气体排放量有着重要影响。众多科学家都已指出温室气体排放与全球变暖有着直接关系。

Both the burning of fossil fuels during food production and non-carbon dioxide emissions associated with livestock and animal waste contribute to the problem，the University of Chicago’s Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin wrote in the report.

芝加哥大学的Gidon Eshel和Pamela Martin在该报告中写道,食品加工过程中的矿物燃料的燃烧和家畜及其他动物排泄物中的非二氧化碳化合物的排放加剧了全球变暖。

The average American diet requires the production of an extra ton and a half of carbon dioxide-equivalent, in the form of actual carbon dioxide as well as methane and other greenhouse gases compared to a strictly vegetarian diet, according to Eshel and Martin. And with Earth Day approaching on April 22, cutting down on just a few eggs or hamburgers each week is an easy way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, they said.

Eshel和Martin表示，传统的美式饮食比素食排放出更多的包括二氧化碳、甲烷和其他温室气体在内的二氧化碳等价物他们表示，随着4月22日世界地球日的临近,只要每周简单地减少鸡蛋或者汉堡的食用量就能为减少温室气体排放做出贡献。

“We neither make a value judgment nor do we make a categorical statement” said Eshel，an Assistant Professor in Geophysical Sciences. “We say that however close you can be to a vegan diet and further from the mean American diet, the better you are for the planet. It doesn’t have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan. If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you’ve already made a substantial difference.”

“在此我们不是作出价值评判或者严厉指责,”地球地理学院助 理研究员Eshel表示我们是说你的饮食习惯偏向素食并远离美国传统饮食，将对环保作出巨大贡献。你也许无法成为严格的素食者，但只要你每周将2个汉堡减为一个，就已经是很大的改变了。”

The average American drives 8,322 miles by car annually, emitting 1,9 to 4.7 tons of carbon dioxide, depending on the vehicle model and fuel efficiency. Meanwhile, Americans also consume an average of 3,774 calories of food each day.

一个美国人平均每年驾车8322英里,考虑到汽车型号和耗油量的区别,大概会排放1.9到4.7吨二氧化碳。同时，美国人平均每天消耗3774卡路里的食物。

In 2002, energy used for food production accounted for 17 percent of all fossil fuel use in the United States. And the burning of these fossil fuels emitted three-quarters of a ton of carbon dioxide per person.

2002年，美国矿物燃料的17%用于食品生产。这些燃料的燃烧带来了相当于每人3/4吨的二氧化碳排放。

That alone amounts to approximately one-third the average greenhouse-gas emissions of personal transportation. But livestock production and associated animal waste also emit greenhouse gases not associated with fossil-fuel combustion, primarily methane and nitrous oxide.

这大概等于个人交通工具带来的温室气体排放的1/3。但是畜牧业和相关的动物产业资源浪费也排放温室气体,主要包括甲烷和氮氧化物。

“An example would be manure lagoons that are associated with large-scale pork production,” Eshel said. “Those emit a lot of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere.”

Eshel表示大规模生产猪肉所需要的肥料湖就是一个典型的例子。它们释放出大量氮氧化物到大气层中。”

While methane and nitrous oxide are relatively rare compared with carbon dioxide, they are一 molecule for molecule-far more powerful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. A single pound of methane, for example，has the same greenhouse effect as approximately 50 pounds of carbon dioxide.

尽管甲烷和氮氧化物与二氧化碳相比排放量少得多，但是它们却是比二氧化碳危害大得多的温室气体。例如，一磅甲烷造成的温室效应相当于50膀二氧化碳造成的温室效应。

In their study, Eshel and Martin compared the energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions that underlie five diets: average American, red meat, fish, poultry and vegetarian (including eggs and dairy), all equaling 3,774 calories per day.

在他们的研究中，Eshel和Martin比较了 5种饮食结构的能源消耗和温室气体排放情况,这5种饮食结构分别为:美国人的平均饮食结构、红肉为主的饮食结构,海鲜鱼类为主的饮食结构、家禽为主的饮食结构以及蛋奶型素食者的饮食结构,每种饮食结构每天都消耗3774卡路里的热量。

The vegetarian diet turned out to be the most energy-efficient, followed by poultry and the average American diet. Fish and red meat virtually tied as the least efficient.

研究结果表明蛋奶型素食者的饮食结构是最具有能源节约价值的,其次是家禽为主的饮食结构和美国人的平均饮食结构。以海鲜鱼类为主和以红肉为主的饮食结构是最缺乏效率的。

The impact of producing fish came as the study’s biggest surprise to Martin, an Assistant Professor in Geophysical Sciences. “Fish can be from one extreme to the other，” Martin said. Sardines and anchovies flourish near coastal areas and can be harvested with minimal energy expenditure. But swordfish and other large predatory species required energy-intensive long-distance voyages.

作为地球物理科学院的助理研究员,Martin对于渔业的研究结果很吃惊。他说捕捞不同种类的鱼所消耗的能源大不相同。”捕捞在沿海地区产量丰富的沙丁鱼和凤尾鱼只需要很小的能源消耗。但是捕捞旗鱼和其他掠食性鱼类则需要进行能源消耗很大的长距离航海。

Martin and Eshel’s research Indicated that plant-based diets are healthier for people as well as for the planet.

Eshel和Martin的研究也证实,对生态环境有益的饮食对于人类同样也更加健康。