2006年VOA标准英语-Worst-Ever Drought Intensifies Australian Clima

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
01 November 2006

Australia has again refused to ratify¹ the Kyoto Protocol² on climate change, despite a new British-commissioned environmental study warning of catastrophe³ unless governments deal urgently with global warming. Australian officials say the Kyoto agreement does not impose equal burdens on the various signatories. Still, as Australia deals with the worst drought in its history, the government insists it is addressing climate change.

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Australian Prime Minister John Howard this week again defended his government's decision not to sign the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto agreement sets targets for industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions⁴, considered by many scientists to be a major factor in global warming.

The agreement's critics say it is flawed because it does not require developing countries to reduce emissions.

Mr. Howard says Kyoto would harm Australia by imposing⁵ obligations on its economy that the country's competitors could escape.

"But China and India, although being part of Kyoto, don't carry the same burden under Kyoto that Australia carries, and that is reason why until that changes, this country won't join Kyoto," he said. "Because, unless you have everybody in, you are not going to have a solution to the problem…."

Although it will not sign the protocol, Australia insists it is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is spending $1.5 billion on new technologies, including the world's biggest solar power plant.

Mr. Howard has also proposed what he calls a "new Kyoto" to reduce emissions through technological⁶ development rather than the setting of targets. He says the new program should work through an organization like the Asia-Pacific Partnership⁷ on Clean Development and Climate, an existing environmental group that includes Australia, India, the United States, China, South Korea and Japan.

Canberra this week also announced $46 million worth of projects - many of them in collaboration⁸ with the other five countries in the partnership - aimed at reducing emissions. 

creek9 bed on their drought stricken 100-hectare property near Toowoomba, west of Brisbane (File photo) " src="/upimg/allimg/070507/1645260.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> Australian farmers survey a dry creek bed on their drought stricken 100-hectare property near Toowoomba, west of Brisbane (File photo)

The climate is a very hot topic right now in Australia, a land of extremes, where thousands of miles of rugged¹⁰ coastline and lush rain forest eventually give way to a parched¹¹ interior. At the moment, the country is in the grip of its worst-ever drought.

Some experts believe that what they call the "Big Dry" is a clear indication that the country's weather is shifting.

Dr. Karl Mallon is the scientific and technical officer for an environmental consultancy in Sydney. He says that parts of Australia can look forward to a drier and more barren future.

"This sort of drying is consistent with what climate science is telling us is underway," he said. "We have to both adapt to climate change and we have to make sure we're starting to mitigate¹² climate change if we're going to keep the economy - the global economy and the national economies - under control."

The five-year-drought is already threatening the survival of many of the small communities in the Outback, Australia's countryside.

The farming town of Bourke, 500 miles northwest of Sydney, is in real peril¹³.

Sheep farmer Ben Mannix says this isolated¹⁴ part of the Outback is slowly dying of thirst.

"They generally grow wheat or cotton out there and it's irrigated¹⁵, but as you can see there's no crop out there and…I'm fairly certainly there wasn't a crop last year," he said.

Even the children of Bourke are aware of the town's problems. One schoolboy knows there may be no future for his family here.

"I haven't seen heavy rain for a long time," he said. "If we don't get rain soon it's going to be pretty hard 'cause my dad's in the water industry selling irrigation, and he said if it doesn't rain soon we might have to move [to another] town to where there's more rain."

If climate change continues, far more than the inhabitants of Bourke could be affected¹⁶.

An environmental study commissioned by the British government and published this week warns that unchecked global warming could cost world economies trillions of dollars to address.

1 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

2 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

3 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

4 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。

5 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

6 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

9 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

10 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

11 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

12 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

13 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

14 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

15 irrigated   

[医]冲洗的

参考例句：

• They irrigated their crops with water from this river. 他们用这条小河里的水浇庄稼。
• A crop can be sown, weeded, irrigated, and fertilized uniformly. 一种作物可以均匀一致地进行播种，除草，灌溉和施肥。

16 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。