DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Health Study Says Poor Countries Most A

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Health Study Says Poor Countries Most Affected¹ by Climate Change
By Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Monday, December 05, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Development Report.

Health and climate scientists have mapped how climate change affects different parts of the world in different ways. The scientists point to evidence that changes in the past thirty years may already be affecting human health. Possible effects include more deaths from extreme heat or cold, from storms and from dry periods that lead to crop failures.

 
Drought has turned farmland into useless soil and sand
Temperature changes may also influence the spread of disease. For example, warmer weather speeds the growth of organisms that cause diseases like malaria³ and dengue fever.

The work by scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the World Health Organization appeared in the journal Nature. The W.H.O. is a United Nations agency.

The agency recently estimated that climate changes caused by human activity lead to more than one hundred fifty thousand deaths each year. Cases of sickness are estimated at five million. And the W.H.O. says the numbers could rise sharply⁴ by two thousand thirty.

Jonathan Patz of the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at Wisconsin led the study. Professor Patz notes that climate scientists linked global warming to the heat that killed thousands in Europe in August of two thousand three. But he says poor countries least responsible for the warming are most at risk from the health effects of higher temperatures.

Professor Patz says areas at greatest risk include southern and eastern Africa and coastlines along the Pacific and Indian oceans. Also, large cities experience what scientists call a "heat island" effect that can intensify⁵ conditions.

Professor Patz says average temperatures worldwide have increased about one-third of a degree Celsius⁶ in the last thirty years. But he tells us even that can make a difference with a disease like malaria. The report says average temperatures could increase as much as six degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

Professor Patz says the world faces an important moral test.

Representatives from about two hundred nations have been meeting in Montreal, Canada, to discuss climate change. The ten-day conference ends December ninth. It is the first such United Nations meeting since the Kyoto Protocol⁷ took effect earlier this year. The treaty seeks to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases released as pollution into the air.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Our reports are online at voaspecialenglish. I'm Steve Ember.

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

4 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。

5 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

6 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

7 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。