美国国家公共电台 NPR--The United Nations is expected to issue a major new climate change report

The United Nations is expected to issue a major new climate change report

Transcript¹

A report from the United Nations is expected to lay out options to help world leaders curb² emissions³, and protect people from the effects of climate change.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Presidents making decisions often get a decision memo⁴. The memo boils down an issue to a single question and the president says yes or no. Today, the United Nations offers a kind of decision memo to leaders around the world on how to address climate change. Rebecca Hersher from NPR's climate desk is here. Good morning.

REBECCA HERSHER, BYLINE⁵: Good morning.

INSKEEP: OK, so what makes this memo a big deal?

HERSHER: You know, there have been a lot of these, but this one is important. It's sort of where the rubber hits the road. So to understand why, we need to go back to the Paris Climate Agreement - that's from 2015. Remember, that agreement, it kicked off the current efforts by world leaders to cut climate pollution and to reduce how much fossil fuels we use. And the ultimate goal of that agreement was to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius⁶. That's compared to the mid-1800s. That number, it came from one of these reports, one of these memos⁷. Yeah, so later this year, there's this big international meeting coming to discuss the progress on meeting that goal. This report will be that sort of shared understanding for that meeting.

INSKEEP: So this is boiling down what people know about climate science and climate change so that leaders can make some kind of decision. Is that right?

HERSHER: Yeah, exactly. And, you know, the key to this report is that it's extremely short. The idea is that it's so simple that world leaders might actually use it...

INSKEEP: (Laughter) And actually read it.

HERSHER: ...Like a cheat sheet.

INSKEEP: OK. Good, good.

HERSHER: Yeah. Amazing. So, for example, we expect that the report will have reminders⁸ that despite all of the Paris Agreement promises, global greenhouse gas emissions are not decreasing and that emissions need to fall by about half in the next decade. That's to avoid some really dangerous changes, like massive sea level rise and extinction⁹ of lots of animals and plants, which is really scary, obviously.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

HERSHER: The report will also spell out all the ways that climate change is affecting people's lives right now - you know, more severe droughts and heavy rain and heat waves and disappearing ice - things that people see in their daily lives. And the U.S. has experienced both severe floods and severe drought in just the last few months. So that kind of extreme weather, we're seeing it in the headlines; it's happening around the world.

INSKEEP: What does the report say about what to do?

HERSHER: Well, this is where the science has actually really matured. And you'll get my science geekery. It used to be that scientists were really focused on how global warming works, but now there's actually a lot of science about how to reduce emissions, you know, how to prepare for the changes that we know are coming, who is most vulnerable to climate change, social science, all different kinds of fields. So this report will focus on all of that work. So you can sort of think of it - going back to your decision memo metaphor¹⁰ - it's like a menu. It will lay out all the ways that we might reduce emissions. But there are things that are already happening - you know, renewable energy or changing the way we farm - but the menu will also include, like, more aspirational¹¹ or theoretical ideas, like figuring out how to suck carbon out of the atmosphere - you know, technologies that don't yet exist, at least at scale. And the goal is to give policymakers reliable, broad-based information so they can take next steps.

INSKEEP: Look at the menu and say, I'll have the Impossible burger.

HERSHER: (Laughter) Truly, the literally¹² impossible burger.

INSKEEP: (Laughter) Rebecca Hersher from NPR's climate desk. Thanks so much.

HERSHER: Thanks.

(SOUNDBITE OF LARS DANIELSSON'S "PASSACAGLIA")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

3 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

4 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

7 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

8 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

9 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

10 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

11 aspirational   

志同的，有抱负的

参考例句：

• Most of the images that bombard us all are aspirational. 轰击的图像，我们都期望最大。
• Analysts said self-help and aspirational reading could explain India's high figures. 分析师们指出，自助读书、热爱读书是印度人均读书时间超过别的国家的主要原因。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。