2007年VOA标准英语-WHO Sets Sights on Global Warming as Health Iss

By Kurt Achin
Jeju, South Korea
14 September 2007

Global warming is often in the news these days, usually in connection with changing, and sometimes destructive, weather patterns. But the World Health Organization says rising temperatures also have alarming implications for public health. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Jeju, South Korea, where delegates to a WHO gathering¹ say they will focus more on the issue in the years ahead.

Dr. Timothy Pyakalyia says farmers in his tropical homeland, Papua New Guinea, have been enjoying fruit harvests at elevations² where fruit never grew before.

Along with that good news, Dr. Pyakalyia - who is also PNG's Deputy Secretary of Health - says there is some bad news.

"We're seeing local malaria³ transmission in zones we've never seen before," he said.

Dr. Pyakalyia spent the past week here in Jeju with dozens of other Western Pacific delegates to the World Health Organization. WHO Spokesman Peter Cordingly says the new malaria cases can be traced to global warming.

"The warm zones are spreading in this region into areas that weren't warm before. And when that happens, you're looking at vector-borne diseases, mosquito-borne diseases... Dengue and malaria are just becoming very, very difficult to control," he said. "The numbers are growing, and that's because the numbers of mosquitoes are growing, as well."

Cambodian women with their children, many of whom are sick with dengue fever, wait for treatment outside a children's hospital in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 27 Jul 2007

Mosquitoes thrive in warm, wet conditions. WHO officials say they have seen dramatically higher incidences of mosquito-borne disease in Singapore, Cambodia, and other countries.

The WHO's Western Pacific regional director, Dr. Shigeru Omi, says global warming is emerging as one of the organization's most urgent issues.

"Already we have evidence to indicate that global warming [and] climate change have a negative impact on health," he said. "So the WHO, I think, has to play our role."

WHO officials say larger mosquito populations are just one of global warming's health threats. Higher temperatures will dry up arable⁴ land in some Pacific countries, many of which are already poor and experiencing widespread malnutrition⁵. Changing weather patterns may also put densely⁶ populated areas at risk of deadly flooding, along with the resulting contamination of food and water supplies.

Right now, the WHO is not explicitly⁷ raising the issue of global warming in its public activities, but spokesman Cordingly says that is about to change.

"Next year, global warming will show up on our agenda," he said. "By then we will have done quite a lot of research into the subject."

Officials say that research will probably be put to use in new programs urging governments to cut back on fossil fuel consumption and stop destroying the region's rainforests - which are believed to be two of the biggest factors in climate change.

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 elevations   

（水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升

参考例句：

• Weight of the crust changes as elevations are eroded and materials are deposited elsewhere. 当高地受到侵蚀，物质沉积到别的地方时，地壳的重量就改变。
• All deck elevations are on the top of structural beams. 所有甲板标高线均指结构梁顶线。

3 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

4 arable   

adj.可耕的，适合种植的

参考例句：

• The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.那个地带很快就从耕地变成了沙漠。
• Do you know how much arable land has been desolated?你知道什么每年有多少土地荒漠化吗？

5 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

6 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

7 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法