VOA慢速英语2012 农业报道 - 推动农业成为气候变化谈判核心

Agriculture Report - Putting Agriculture at the Center of Climate Talks
农业报道 - 推动农业成为气候变化谈判核心

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
This June in Brazil, delegates will mark the twentieth anniversary of what is commonly known as the Earth Summit. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development took place in Rio de Janeiro in nineteen ninety-two.
今年六月份在巴西，代表们将迎来了常说的地球峰会的20周年。1992年的这次联合国环境与发展会议在里约热内卢市举行。
One of the issues that the delegates plan to discuss in June at Rio+20 is the role of agriculture in climate change. A recent article written by a team of scientists says agriculture should be a top priority in climate change negotiations¹. It says there was some progress in this area, but not much, at the United Nations climate conference in December in Durban, South Africa.
代表们计划在六月份的里约+20峰会讨论的问题之一是农业在气候变化中的角色。一个科学家小组最近撰写的文章称，在气候变化谈判中，农业应当是重中之重。文章表示，在去年12月南非德班举行的联合国气候大会上，这方面取得了一些进展，但进展不大。
The article "What Next for Agriculture After Durban?" appeared in the journal Science. Britain's chief scientific adviser², Sir John Beddington, led the international team that wrote it to try to influence policy makers³.
这篇标题为“德班之后的农业何去何从？”的文章发表在科学杂志上。英国政府首席科学顾问约翰·贝丁顿（John Beddington）领导的这个国际团队撰写了这篇文章，试图影响决策者。
Molly Jahn from the University of Wisconsin-Madison was one of those authors.
来自威斯康星-麦迪逊大学的莫莉·雅恩（Molly Jahn）是这篇文章的作者之一。
MOLLY JAHN: "Well, agriculture is important, period, because of the imperative⁴ of food security. And we're falling short there in significant ways that have come to our attention, especially recently with the significant price shocks."
雅恩：“由于粮食安全的当务之急，农业是最重要的，具有时代性的。我们在这方面的严重下滑已经引起了我们的重视，特别是通过最近价格的显著波动。”
Prices on the world market have remained high since the food crisis of two thousand seven and two thousand eight.
自2007年和2008年粮食危机以来，全球市场价格一直居高不下。
Professor Jahn says agriculture is a major producer of greenhouse gases blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere. But agriculture also offers ways to lessen⁵ their effects with known and proven farming practices.
雅恩教授表示，农业是造成地球大气温室效应的温室气体的重要排放者。但农业也通过已经被证明的耕作方式，提供了减轻其影响的途径。
MOLLY JAHN: "So it represents both an activity that’s essential for our survival -- an activity that is threatened by climate change, especially in vulnerable parts of the world -- and an opportunity to better manage meeting our needs, while we reduce the emissions⁶ of various greenhouse gases that are accumulating in the atmosphere."
雅恩：“因此它既象征了对我们生存至关重要的，受气候变化威胁的活动，特别是全球脆弱地区。也象征了当我们减少在大气中累计的温室气体的排放，通过改善管理来满足我们需求的机遇。”
Professor Jahn says moving toward "climate-smart agriculture" should be at the center of policy considerations.
雅恩教授说，向气候智能型农业推进应当成为政策考量的核心。
The scientists call for efforts to reduce the huge amount of food that gets wasted or goes bad before it can be eaten. Professor Jahn says another recommendation is for farmers to plant more crops that put less pressure on the environment.
科学家呼吁出台减少粮食在食用前被大量浪费或损失的措施。雅恩教授称，另一项建议是给农民生产更多粮食并减轻其对环境压力。
MOLLY JAHN: "Given current knowledge, there's a great deal we can do within current budgets and within current economic structures that will bring us forward to a better place with respect to agricultural practices in the developing and in the developed world."
雅恩：“鉴于目前的知识，在当前预算和经济结构范围内，我们有很多事情可以做，这将在发展中国家和发达国家的农业措施方面推动我们向前。”
The article says the "integration⁷ of agriculture in the climate change negotiating process" has been moving slowly. But, it says, at the same time climate change and population growth have been moving much faster.
文章说，“气候变化谈判进程中的农业一体化”已经缓慢推动。但与此同时，气候变化和人口增长推动得更快。
The article calls on scientists to play a bigger part in the issue by making sure climate change negotiators have clear data available. Such information, they say, could help increase investment in agriculture.
文章呼吁科学家通过确保为气候变化谈判提供清晰数据，在这一问题上发挥更大作用。他们说，这类信息将有助于增加对农业的投入。
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Arick Simms. I'm Jin Tedder⁸.

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

5 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

6 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。

7 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

8 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网