After 29 hours of uninterrupted negotiations the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (ipcc), on how alterations in land use are contributing to such change, was gavelled through in Geneva on the afternoon of August 7th. When, minutes later, your correspondent asked to speak with some of the researchers, she was informed they had “gone to bed”. The report these exhausted delegates produced—all 1,300 pages of it—fires another warning shot about the state of the planet and the way people are transforming virtually every corner of every continent. Human activities affect roughly three-quarters of Earth’s ice-free land, with huge consequences for the climate.
經(jīng)過29個小時不間斷的談判，政府間氣候變化專門委員會(ipcc)于8月7日下午在日內(nèi)瓦發(fā)布了一份關(guān)于土地使用變化如何促成這種變化的最新報告。幾分鐘后，當(dāng)記者要求采訪一些研究人員時，她被告知他們已經(jīng)“上床睡覺了”。這些疲憊不堪的代表們撰寫了一份長達(dá)1300頁的報告，這是對地球現(xiàn)狀以及人類正在改變每個大陸每個角落的方式的又一次警告。人類活動影響了地球上大約四分之三的無冰土地，對氣候產(chǎn)生了巨大的影響。
Land masses are natural carbon sinks,absorbing greenhouse gases by a variety of processes, including photosynthesis.They also produce such gases—for instance, when vegetation decomposes or burns.By conserving some ecosystems and destroying others to make way for pasturesand fields, or chopping down trees for timber, human activities on the land addan extra layer of complexity to already complex natural cycles.
陸地是天然的碳匯，通過包括光合作用在內(nèi)的各種過程吸收溫室氣體。它們也會產(chǎn)生這樣的氣體——例如，當(dāng)植物分解或燃燒時。通過保護(hù)一些生態(tài)系統(tǒng)和破壞其他生態(tài)系統(tǒng)為牧場和農(nóng)田讓路，或者砍伐樹木作為木材，人類在土地上的活動為本已復(fù)雜的自然循環(huán)增加了額外的復(fù)雜性。
Negotiation? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 談判
Correspondent? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 記者
Exhausted delegate? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 代表
Fire warning shot? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?警告
Photosynthesis? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?光合作用
Decompose? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 分解
Make way for? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 為…讓路
Pasture? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 牧場
Timber? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?木材
