VOA常速英语2008年-Experts Say Climate Change Drives Migration in

By Nancy Palus
Dakar
20 March 2008

The effects of climate change are increasingly driving people in sub-Saharan Africa to migrate in search of better living conditions, according to experts who gathered this week in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.  Nancy Palus reports for VOA.

Migration¹ and development in Africa were the themes of this week's conference.  Climate change was a major topic.  It is being seen as one of the leading causes of migration.

Al-Hamndou Dorsouma, with the Tunis-based Sahara and Sahel Observatory², says climate change worsens weather extremes in the region, including flooding, drought, and desertification.

He says even if more research is needed, the link between desertification and migration is clear.  He says the phenomenon is simple.  First, soil quality breaks down.  Then people produce less food and poverty deepens.  He says this leads to social tensions and forces people to move - some to urban areas, some to other countries.

Guene Fatou of Senegal's Environment Ministry³ says people in the region will likely have an increasingly tough time feeding themselves. She says climate change will continue to fuel famine in sub-Saharan Africa.

Meera Sethi is West Africa advisor⁴ with the International Organization for Migration.  She says climate change is weighing most heavily on already strained regions.

"It is going to be again more burden on the same countries, the same regions," she explained.  "Because, as we hear from all sides, the ones that are going to be the most affected⁵ are the least developed countries, the majority of which are African, and especially sub-Saharan. "

And women are among the groups most affected, according to Zo Randriamaro with the U.N. Women's Development Fund in Dakar.

"If you look at all the evidence from the different studies it is quite well established that women bear the biggest part of the negative impact of climate change," she noted⁶.  "And if you add to that the issues of migration, especially in those rural areas that are affected by climate change with desertification, lack of access to water and so on and so forth⁷, when women are left behind, when men go to urban areas or to other countries, they become not only the breadwinner, but they also become the producers."

Many people at the conference said that the right policies could help rural communities remain on their land.  

Environmental expert Dorsouma says developing countries have no choice but to adapt to climate change.  With the sharp degradation⁸ of living conditions, he says governments need to intervene in a major way on behalf of rural communities.

Sociologist⁹ Cheikh Omar Ba says governments and donors¹⁰ should take the lead from farmers themselves. He says that otherwise, government policies will be out of sync with reality, poverty will spread, and people will be forced to migrate.

Guene Fatou says Senegal and other developing countries have come up with plans for adapting to climate change, including in the agriculture sector¹¹.  Many attending the conference agreed the next step is summoning the political will and the funding to implement¹² them. 

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

5 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。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

9 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

10 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

12 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。