英国卫报：60年来的气候变化警告：那些被忽视的迹象(1)

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Sixty years of climate change warnings: the signs that were missed (and ignored)

60年来的气候变化警告：那些被错过（和忽视）的迹象

The effects of ‘weird¹ weather’ were already being felt in the 1960s, but scientists linking fossil fuels with climate change were dismissed as prophets of doom²

在20世纪60年代，人们已经感受到了 “异常天气”的影响，但将化石燃料与气候变化联系起来的科学家却被视为厄运的预言家。

In August 1974, the CIA produced a study on “climatological research as it pertains³ to intelligence problems”.

1974年8月，中央情报局制作了一份关于“与情报问题有关的气候学研究”的研究。

The diagnosis⁴ was dramatic.

该研究所下的结论是非常戏剧性的。

It warned of the emergence⁵ of a new era of weird weather, leading to political unrest and mass migration⁶ (which, in turn, would cause more unrest).

它警告说，一个新的异常天气时代的出现，将导致政治动荡和大规模移民（反过来，这又会导致更多的动荡）。

The new era the agency imagined wasn’t necessarily one of hotter temperatures; the CIA had heard from scientists warning of global cooling as well as warming.

该机构想象的新时代不一定是温度升高的时代；中情局从科学家那里听到了全球降温和升温的警告。

But the direction in which the thermometer was travelling wasn’t their immediate⁷ concern; it was the political impact.

但温度的化并不是他们最关心的问题，他们关心的是政治影响。

They knew that the so-called “little ice age”, a series of cold snaps between, roughly, 1350 and 1850, had brought not only drought and famine, but also war – and so could these new climatic changes.

他们知道，所谓的“小冰期”，即大约在1350年至1850年之间的一系列寒流，不仅带来了干旱和饥荒，而且还带来了战争--这些新的气候变化也会带来战争。

“The climate change began in 1960,” the report’s first page informs us, “but no one, including the climatologists, recognised it.”

气候变化始于1960年，报告的第一页就表明了这点，但没有人认识到了这一点，包括气候学家。

Crop failures in the Soviet⁸ Union and India in the early 1960s had been attributed to standard unlucky weather.

20世纪60年代初，苏联和印度的作物歉收被归咎于典型的气候不佳。

The US shipped grain to India and the Soviets⁹ killed off livestock¹⁰ to eat, “and premier¹¹ Nikita Khrushchev was quietly deposed”.

美国向印度运送粮食，而苏联人杀了牲畜来吃，“总理尼基塔-赫鲁晓夫被悄悄地废黜”。

But, the report argued, the world ignored this warning, as the global population continued to grow and states made massive investments in energy, technology and medicine.

但是，报告认为，世界忽略了这一警告，因为全球人口继续增长，各国在能源、技术和医药方面进行了大量投资。

Meanwhile, the weird weather rolled on, shifting to a collection of west African countries just below the Sahara.

与此同时，怪异的天气继续频发，转移到了撒哈拉沙漠附近的多个西非国家。

People in Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad “became the first victims of the climate change”, the report argued, but their suffering was masked by other struggles – or the richer parts of the world simply weren’t paying attention.

报告认为，毛里塔尼亚、塞内加尔、马里、布基纳法索、尼日尔和乍得的人民 “成为气候变化的第一批受害者”，但他们的痛苦被其他斗争所掩盖--或者世界上较富裕的地区根本没有注意到。

As the effects of climate change started to spread to other parts of the world, the early 1970s saw reports of droughts, crop failures and floods from Burma, Pakistan, North Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Japan, Manila, Ecuador, USSR, China, India and the US.

随着气候变化的影响开始蔓延到世界其他地区，20世纪70年代初，缅甸、巴基斯坦、朝鲜、哥斯达黎加、洪都拉斯、日本、马尼拉、厄瓜多尔、苏联、中国、印度和美国都有关于干旱、作物歉收和洪水的报告。

1 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

2 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

3 pertains   

关于( pertain的第三人称单数 )； 有关； 存在； 适用

参考例句：

• When one manages upward, none of these clear and unambiguous symbols pertains. 当一个人由下而上地管理时，这些明确无误的信号就全都不复存在了。
• Her conduct hardly pertains to a lady. 她的行为与女士身份不太相符。

4 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

5 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

6 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

9 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

10 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

11 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。