奥巴马再次强调应对气候变化的重要性

AS IT IS 2015-09-03 Obama Hikes Melting Glacier¹ to Highlight Climate Change 奥巴马再次强调应对气候变化的重要性

U.S. President Barack Obama hiked a melting Arctic glacier in Alaska Tuesday to bring attention to climate change.

Mr. Obama warned that greenhouse gas emissions³ are changing the global climate for the worse. He asked the world to respond quickly to cutting those emissions.

The American leader is visiting the remote U.S. state for three days. He is using its beautiful, but fragile landscape to call attention to the serious situation. Scientists say rising temperatures and unstable⁴ weather patterns will leave entire nations and major coastal⁵ cities underwater.

But at the same time, Mr. Obama is asking the U.S. Congress to quickly approve funding for a new heavy icebreaker that costs $1 billion. He wants the ship completed two years earlier than planned.

The U.S. has two ice-breaking ships. Russia has 40.

A new, heavy duty ship might seem unnecessary if the ice cap is melting. Soon, ships will be able to cut through Arctic waters and shorten their trade routes.

Opening those routes increases risks for shipping⁶ and the environment. More drilling for oil and natural gas could lead to more spills and accidents.

The Arctic seabed is important to many countries because it may hold nearly a quarter of the world's oil and gas.

Mr. Obama declared climate change to be the defining threat of this century. He said the world is "not acting⁷ fast enough" to address climate change.

"On this issue of all issues, there is such a thing as being too late,'' he said. “And that moment is almost upon us."

"Human activity is disrupting the climate, in many ways, faster than we previously⁸ thought. The science is stark⁹. It is sharpening. It proves that this once distance threat is now very much in the present." 

Mr. Obama is the first U.S. president to visit the Arctic Circle while in office. He called the effects of climate change in Alaska devastating¹⁰.

"Over the past 60 years, Alaska has warmed about twice as fast as the rest of the United States. Last year was Alaska's warmest year on record - just as it was for the rest of the world."

Glaciers¹¹ are melting quickly. Oceans and rivers are warmer and more acidic. Sea levels are rising. And, Mr. Obama said, shoreline erosion rates are very swift.

To his critics, the president said "there doesn't have to be a conflict between a sound environment and strong economic growth.” Mr. Obama argues that the cost will be higher if nations do nothing to combat climate change.

"The time to plead ignorance is surely past. Those who want to ignore the science, they are increasingly alone. They are on their own shrinking island.”

Commitment to take action

At a U.S. State Department conference in Alaska on Monday, officials from the U.S., France, South Korea, Singapore and other countries announced their commitment to take "urgent" action against climate change. They, too, want to slow the pace of global warming in the fragile Arctic region.

“We take seriously warnings by scientists,” they said in a joint¹² statement.

“Temperatures at the Arctic are increasing at more than twice the average global rate. Loss of Arctic snow and ice is accelerating the warming of the planet as a whole,” they said.

Officials will meet again at a U.N. conference on climate change later this year in Paris, France.

Words in This Story

emission² (s) –n. sending out something , like gas, from a source

remote – adj. far away

fragile – adj. breaks easily

doomsday –n. the day the world is destroyed

stark – adj. having a plain, empty or cold appearance

devastating – adj. causing harm or great damage

acidic – adj. containing acid

swiftest shoreline erosion – phrase. the edge of the shore is quickly being worn away

carbon dioxide –n. gas produced by certain fuels burned

1 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

2 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

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 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

5 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

10 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

11 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

12 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。