VOA常速英语2016--应对气候变化以消除极端贫困（在线收听）

应对气候变化以消除极端贫困

Next an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government.

下面的社论反映了美国政府的观点。

Climate change is the defining issue of our time, because it affects nearly every aspect of human lives.Floods, droughts, heat waves and other types of extreme weather reduce harvests, threaten the lives and livelihoods of those living on the margins, and have a disproportionate impact on the extreme poor.

气候变化是这个时代的关键问题，它影响到人类生活的几乎方方面面。洪灾、干旱、热浪等其他极端天气令作物减产，威胁到生活在边远地区的人们的生命和生活，对极端贫困人口造成极大的影响。

Because many of the poorest people live off the land, they are more susceptible to the impacts of extreme weather conditions.Climate change is expected to lead to increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as storms and droughts.Extreme weather events can have devastating effects on subsistence farmers.While no one event can be attributed to climate change, the East African drought of 2011-2012 contributed to a famine in Somalia, which contributed to the deaths of an estimated quarter of a million people.In Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and some parts of South and East Asia,the combination of flooding caused by unusually heavy rains, poverty and low levels of development regularly brings hunger and death.

因为很多最贫困人口靠山吃山靠水吃水，他们就更容易受到极端气候的影响。气候变化将导致极端气候事件发生的频率和强度增加，这些极端气候包括风暴和干旱。极端气候事件对勉强糊口的农民造成极大的破坏。尽管没有哪个事件可归因于气候变化，2011-2012年间东非的旱灾导致索马里出现饥荒，据估计造成25万人死亡。在尼泊尔、巴基斯坦、孟加拉国和东南亚部分地区，罕见暴雨、贫困和低发展水平几个因素相结合，经常会造成饥饿和死亡。

Two years ago, President Barack Obama set a new goal for United States development policy,eradicating extreme poverty within one generation.In the recent past, that would have meant an extra push to deliver humanitarian aid,to produce more energy, and to increase educational opportunity for both children and adults.But now, the effort to eliminate extreme poverty must include programs that will help everyone,especially the extremely poor, prepare for the effects of climate change.

两年前，巴拉克·奥巴马总统提出了美国发展政策新目标，也就是在一代人的时间内消除极端贫困。就在不久前，这一目标还意味着大力提供人道主义援助，生产更多的能源，并为儿童和成年人提供更多教育机会。但是现在，消除极端贫困的工作必须包括能帮助到每个人的项目，尤其是帮助极端贫困者的项目，以及应对气候变化效应的项目。