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As the Earth Heats Up, So Does the Debate 全球暖化，话题不断

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It’s a fact that our planet’s climate is changing. Over the last century, average global temperatures have risen up to 0.6 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, according to Professor Peter Barrett at Victoria University of Wellington, temperatures will rise another three to four degrees Celsius in the coming century. These climate shifts, popularly known as global warming, are a reality. However, their causes and effects are hotly debated subjects.

地球的气候正在变化，这是不争的事实。过去一百年来，全球的平均气温上升了摄氏0.6度。此外，按照威灵顿维多利亚大学教授彼德巴雷特的说法，在下一世纪全球气温还会再上升摄氏3~4度。这些被大家熟知为全球暖化的气候变化已然成为事实，但造成这些现象的原因与其影响乃是争论不休的话题。

At the heart of the debate is whether or not humans are causing these climate changes. Many climatologists, including the ones on the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC), link greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to global warming. Indeed, temperatures began to rise sharply after the industrial revolution, when humans started producing more greenhouse gases than ever before.

这些争论的核心在于人类是否造成气候变化的罪魁祸首。包括政府间气候变化专门委员会的专家在内的许多气候学家都指出，大气中的温室气体与全球暖化有关。的确，全球气温在工业革命之后开始急遽上升，这时人类也开始制造比以往更多的温室气体。

However, not all agree that humans are blamedfor global warming. Climate shifts are a natural part of the earth’s life cycle, and some scientists believe global warming would have happened even without human intervention. Others, like atmospheric physicist Fred Singer, agree that humans are producing more and more greenhouse gases; however, they argue that the effects won’t be as grave as the IPCC predicts, and dramatic action to curb the production of these gases isn’t necessary.

然而不是所有人都同意全球暖化应归咎于人类。气候变化原是地球生命周期中自然的一环，所以有些科学家认为就算没有人类干预，全球暖化仍会发生。而像大气物理学家弗瑞德辛格等有些人，虽同意人类制造愈来愈多的温室气体，但却主张其所带来的影响并不会如政府间气候变化专门委员会所预测的那么严重，并且认为不需要采取断然的手段来抑制温室气体的产生。

This debate won’t be over soon. Models that predict the future climate of the earth aren’t perfect, and the economic costs of lowering greenhouse gas emissions are high. However, the fact still remains that the climate is changing, and we’ll be seeing the effects soon enough.

这些争论短期内不会结束，因为用来预测地球未来气候的模型尚未臻完美，而且减少温室气体排放量的经济成本又太高。然而气候一直变化这项事实并会改变，所以我们很快就会看到随之而来的种种影响。

－by Will Thelin

Vocabulary

单词发音

atmosphere [ˋætməs͵fɪr] n. 大气

intervention [͵ɪntɚˋvɛnʃən] n. 干预; 介入

predict [prɪˋdɪkt] v. 预言；预料

curb [kɝb] v. 控制，遏止

economic [͵ikəˋnɑmɪk] adj. 经济的

More Information

单词发音

Celsius [ˋsɛlsɪəs] adj. 摄氏的

shift [ʃɪft] n. 转变

debate [dɪˋbet] v. 争论

at the heart of 在....的核心

climatologist [͵klaɪməˋtɑlədʒɪst] n. 气候学家

grave [grev] adj. 严重的; 重大的

emission [ɪˋmɪʃən] n. 排放