到2010年环境移民可能高达五千万

Environmental Refugees Could Top 50 Million by 2010

到2010年环境移民可能高达五千万

 

By 2010 the world may need to cope with as many as 50 million people who have fled their homeland - not for political or economic reasons - but because the environment has been so badly altered that it cannot sustain life. A statement by the United Nations to mark UN Disaster Reduction Day (October 12) highlights the need to recognize and extend support for this new category of refugee.

 

More people are displaced by environmental disasters than by war, according to research by the Red Cross. That reality is borne out by this weekend's earthquake in Pakistan.

 

The death toll¹ from this a once-in-a-century event has reached 23,000 and is rising, and it has left 2.5 million people in the region without shelter.

 

Faiza Zamnahamad, director of the relief organization Mercy Care, says support is urgently needed to supply basic human needs.

 

Faiza Zamnahamad: People are expected after a crisis such as this to be on the move for about six weeks. This is the typical phenomenon that one sees in a catastrophe² of this size. So we want to give water to people to drink to limit the outbreak of water-born illnesses.

 

The widely publicized disaster has prompted an influx³ of aid from the global community, according to Janos Bogardi, director of the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security.

 

Janos Bogardi: If we can move swiftly in and give them a new start where they are, then they may stay in the area. But, for example, if you just take a volcano eruption⁴, which is covering with lava⁵ and ashes fertile lands, you are certainly no choice but to relocate them and in this case they become environmental refugees.

 

Environmental-related migrations⁶ are most acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, but they also affect millions of people in Asia and India. Meanwhile, the United States is witnessing increased pressure from victims of mismanaged and deteriorating⁷ soil and water conditions in Mexico and Latin America.

 

The UN's Janos Bogardi says these refugees suffer from the impact of gradual environmental change -- global warming, sea level rise, air and water pollution and more intense storms, floods and droughts that degrade the land.

 

Janos Bogardi: You lose vegetation cover. You lose soil fertility and ultimately you may lose its (composition). This is a slow process, but unfortunately a process that is very difficult to reverse once ultimate damage was done. So it’s economically not sustainable.

 

Janos Bogardi says the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security is calling on the global community to recognize the plight⁸ of environmental refugees and to work together to lessen⁹ the impact of environmental disaster.

 

I’m Rosanne Skirble.

 

注释：

catastrophe [kE5tAstrEfi] n. 大灾难，大祸

influx [5inflQks] n. 流入

lava [5lB:vE] n. 熔岩，火山岩

relocate [5ri:lEu5keit] v. 重新部署

drought [draut] n. 干旱

plight [plait] n. 困境

1 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。

2 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

3 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

4 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

5 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

6 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

7 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

8 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

9 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。