VOA标准英语2012--Study: Food Production Must Double in 30 Years

Study: Food Production Must Double in 30 Years

Feeding today’s population is a challenge for an already-stressed environment.
Experts project that the world's population will grow from 7 billion people today to 9 billion over the next 30 years.
Nancy Morgan is the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) liaison¹ to the World Bank.
“Basically, meat production and consumption will both need to double by the year 2050,” said Morgan.
The FAO says there are currently 1.5 billion head of cattle, 1 billion pigs and 6 billion chickens in the world.
In the U.S. alone, millions of these and other animals are killed every year for food.
Morgan says over the past decade, worldwide consumption and production of meat grew faster than any other commodity.
“The challenge is how [do] you ensure food without increasing animal numbers and having an impact on fragile lands and our resource base?” Morgan asked.
More than half of the agricultural land in the world is used to raise and feed livestock². Those farm animals are also responsible for 18 percent of the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere every year, methane³ emissions⁴ that scientists say are warming the earth's climate.
The World Preservation⁵ Foundation (WPF), a private environmental group, recently published a report on ways to slow that climate change. It focuses on reducing livestock populations.
The group says it is especially concerned about widespread forest-burning to clear land for cattle operations, as seen in these fires in Brazil's Amazon forest region.
“Fire for pasture maintenance and fire for deforestation are our targets," said Gerard Wedderburn-Bisshop, the WPF's executive director. "For methane, by far the greatest source is livestock agriculture.”
The WPF wants governments to stop subsidizing meat and dairy production.
“Meat and dairy consumption has helped to push global warming to tipping points," added Wedderburn-Bisshop. "It is driving massive environmental destruction and pollution and is killing⁶ us with diabetes⁷, heart disease and cancers.”
But in many rural areas, people depend on animals for food and income.
A reduction in global livestock production is improbable, says Jerry Hatfield, director of Agriculture and the Environment at the US Department of Agriculture.
“We actually have more pasture and ranch⁸ land than we do arable⁹ land or land we put into cultivation,” said Hatfield.
He says research centers are looking at ways to make food animal operations more efficient while also protecting the environment.
“I think it’s all about balance, and I don’t think we have done a very good job,” added Hatfield.
Experts agree that the next few decades will present a puzzle, how to feed nine billion people without wrecking¹⁰ the planet in the process.

1 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

2 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

3 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

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 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

8 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

9 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？

10 wrecking   

破坏

参考例句：

• He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句