VOA标准英语2014--UN: Plastic Accounts for $13B in Damage to Marine Habitat

 

UN: Plastic Accounts for $13B in Damage to Marine¹ Habitat

As World Cup play continues across Brazil, the country is gearing up to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Among the concerns is that the sailing venue² near Rio de Janeiro is too polluted to hold any event, says local biologist Mario Moscatelli.

“The Brazilian authorities seem like they live in a parallel universe in a world of rose-colored glasses that has a different smell, different colors, that doesn’t have the trash we see floating and accumulating in the mangroves along Guanabara,” he says.    

The same story is playing out globally. Plastic accounts for $13 billion in damage to marine habitat, according to a United Nations report released at this week's Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya.

Plastic that washes from roads into streams and rivers, eventually makes its way to beaches and oceans. Over time, it accumulates in the water column. It never goes away because plastic is synthetic³ and doesn’t biodegrade, it just simply breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. 

“There are chemicals in plastic that can leach⁴ out into oceans, but then there are also a lot of chemicals and pollutants⁵ in the oceans," said Nancy Wallace, who heads the Marine Debris⁶ Program for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric⁷ Administration (NOAA). "So things like DDT that are outlawed⁸ now, but their legacy⁹ compounds that are still in the ocean, they will go on to the plastics because of the properties and because of that they are on those plastics when the fish are ingesting them.”

That potentially moves dangerous toxins¹⁰ up the food chain and back to human consumers. Humans cause the problem and humans can solve it, Wallace adds.

“By using less single use items, by recycling our items, by disposing of those properly and making sure they’re going where they should be going," she said. "We can really make a huge difference. It’s really about caring about the environment and knowing that we are the ones that impact it.”

Richard Mattison, CEO of Trucost, the company that calculated the $13 billion marine damage figures, points out that the report promotes an alternative: a business model that opens new markets for sustainable plastic products.

“You could replace the use of virgin¹¹ raw materials for plastic, which is oil, with bio-based products," he said. "You could reduce the energy intensity¹² of plastics production by using renewable energy resources. You could reuse bottles in your households many times if you wish to, rather than ending it off after the first use. We could when we get rid of that plastics, recycle it and reuse it, which replaces the need for virgin raw materials.”

The report calls for companies to better measure, manage and disclose information about the use and disposal of plastics, says Andrew Russell, Director of the Plastic Disclosure Project, which released the report at the Nairobi meeting.

“We see the opportunities for them to save money, quite frankly," Russell said. "We also see them to be much more aware, much more cognizant of risks they face in the environment from a reputation perspective, or from a regulatory perspective. If they think about plastic the way they do other things, then I think these opportunities will present themselves.”  

Russell says that by putting a new value on plastic, industry has an incentive¹³ to clean up the environment, but adds that all sectors¹⁴ of society must join to address the problem.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

3 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

4 leach   

v.分离，过滤掉；n.过滤；过滤器

参考例句：

• Liquid water can leach soluble materials from the interface.液态水能够从界面溶解出可溶性物质。
• They believe that the humic materials are leached from decaying plant materials.他们认为腐植物料是从腐烂的植物体浸沥而来。

5 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

7 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

8 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

9 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

10 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

12 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

13 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

14 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》