海平面上升速度
联合国最新报告称，在极地冰层融化和海水变暖导致海洋膨胀的共同作用下，海平面加速上升，将对数亿人口构成威胁。
Photo credit: Getty Images
全文共645个单词。
Sea levels are rising faster than scientists had predicted, according to a landmark UN report that laid bare the severe risk to coastal cities and low-lying islands from climate change and the parlous state of the world’s oceans.
联合国(UN)一份具有里程碑意义的报告显示，海平面上升速度比科学家之前估计得还要快。这份报告揭示了气候变化和世界海洋的危险状况对沿海城市和低洼岛屿构成的严重风险。
① parlous [?pɑ?.l?s] adj. 糟糕的；危险的；不可预测的
例句：Relations between the two countries have been in a parlous state for some time. 这两国之间的关系已经僵持了一段时间。
The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a gold standard of scientific research, outlined the threat to hundreds of millions of people from the acceleration in the rate at which sea levels are rising, caused by a combination of melting ice in polar regions such as Greenland and Antarctica and the expansion of the oceans as the water warms.
由联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会(IPCC)——科学研究的黄金标准——发布的这份报告，概述了在格陵兰和南极洲等极地地区冰层融化、以及海水变暖导致海洋膨胀的共同作用下，海平面上升加速对数亿人构成的威胁。
The researchers warned that extreme floods, the likes of which have historically only occurred once per century, were likely to happen at least once per year by 2050 in many regions, especially the tropics, even if global warming is limited to 1.5C.
研究人员警告称，即使全球升温幅度被限制在1.5摄氏度以内，但到2050年，许多地区，尤其是热带地区，每年可能至少发生一次以往百年一遇的极端洪水。
The findings come just days after the UN climate summit in New York, where teenage activist Greta Thunberg told the assembled heads of state: “If you choose to fail us, we will never forgive you”. Despite pledges from world leaders to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continue to rise.
就在此项调查结果公布的几天前，青少年活动人士格雷塔?通贝里(Greta Thunberg)在纽约召开的联合国气候峰会上对与会各国元首表示：“如果你们选择辜负我们，我们永远不会原谅你们。”尽管世界各国领导人承诺减少温室气体排放，但大气中的二氧化碳水平仍在持续上升。
Photo credit: Getty Images
Nate Bindoff, of the University of Tasmania and one of the authors of the IPCC report, said: “Since 1993, the rate of warming of the global oceans has actually doubled — and the rate of warming is a contributor to the acceleration that we see in sea level rise.”
塔斯马尼亚大学(University of Tasmania)的内特?宾多夫(Nate Bindoff)是IPCC报告的作者之一。他表示：“自1993年以来，全球海洋变暖的速度实际上翻了一番——而这样的升温速度是我们看到的海平面上升加速的一个因素。”
The IPCC revised upwards its figures for the sea level rise, saying that by 2100 a rise of as much as 1.1m was likely under a business-as-usual scenario, where global emissions of carbon dioxide keep increasing. That is 10cm higher than its previous estimate. In a worst-case scenario, the report concluded, sea levels could rise by more than 5m by 2300.
IPCC向上修正了海平面上升的数据，称在全球二氧化碳排放量持续增加的“一切照旧”情景下，到2100年，海平面可能上升高达1.1米。这比之前的估计高10厘米。该报告的结论是，在最糟糕情景下，到2300年，海平面上升幅度可能超过5米。
By 2100, oceans could be rising more than four times faster than today, the report said. It forecast 15mm of annual sea level rise by the end of the century, compared with 3.6mm of rise today, under a business-as-usual scenario.
该报告称，到2100年，海平面的上升速度可能会达到目前的4倍多。该机构预测，在“一切照旧”情景下，到本世纪末，海平面每年上升幅度将由目前的3.6毫米增加至15毫米。
② scenario [s??nɑ?.ri.??] n. 可能发生的事态；设想
例句：There are several possible scenarios.有几种可能出现的局面。
Photo credit: Getty Images
However, Regine Hock of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, one of the authors of the report, pointed out that current forecasts for 2100 did not include the possibility of collapsing Antarctic ice sheets. “If part of the Antarctic ice sheet collapse, this has the potential to rise that figure way beyond 1m by the end of the century,” said Professor Hock. “And there are indications that that instability is going on, it has started.”
然而，该报告的作者之一、阿拉斯加大学(University of Alaska)费尔班克斯分校的雷吉娜?霍克(Regine Hock)指出，目前对2100年的预测没有包括南极冰盖崩塌的可能性。“如果南极冰盖的一部分崩塌，到本世纪末这一数字有可能远远超过1米，”霍克教授表示，“而目前有迹象表明，冰盖已经不太稳定，这个过程已经开始了。”
Hamish Pritchard, from the British Antarctic Survey and another report author, said: “Megacities and low lying pacific islands are under threat. This will displace a lot of people.” About 680m people around the world live in low-lying areas, and could be threatened by cyclonic winds, coastal erosion, flooding and waves.
报告的另一位作者、英国南极调查局(British Antarctic Survey)的哈米什?普里查德(Hamish Pritchard)表示：“大城市和低洼的太平洋岛屿面临威胁。这将使很多人流离失所。”世界各地有约6.8亿人生活在低洼地区。他们可能受到旋风、海岸侵蚀、洪水和海浪的威胁。
Coastal flood damages were projected to increase by “two to three orders of magnitude by 2100 compared to today” if lawmakers failed to plan for rising sea levels, the report said. Coastal cities would be at “moderate to high” risk after 2050 if “transformative” plans were not put in place, while Arctic communities would be at risk in all scenarios.
该报告称，如果立法者未能制定应对海平面上升的计划，预计到2100年，沿海洪水造成的损失将“比目前增加两到三个数量级”。如果不实施“转变型”计划，2050年后沿海城市将面临“中度至高度的”风险，而北极社区在所有情景下都将面临风险。
“It is as bad as we thought it was,” said Phillip Williamson, a report author from the UK-based Natural Environment Research Council. “We might be able to survive now but some countries are already in trouble and it will get worse.”
“情况和我们之前想象的一样糟，”报告作者、英国自然环境研究委员会(Natural Environment Research Council)的菲利普?威廉姆森(Phillip Williamson)说，“我们现在或许能够生存下来，但有一些国家已经陷入困境，且情况会越来越糟。”
Photo credit: Getty Images
The report, written by 104 authors and editors from 36 countries, also warned of “unprecedented conditions” in the ocean waters, which are becoming not only warmer but also more acidic.
这份报告由来自36个国家的104名作者和编辑撰写。该报告还警告说，海水处于“前所未有的状况”：不仅在变暖，而且酸性越来越大。
Changing marine habitats are likely to lead to the widespread loss of marine animal and plant species, as well as coral reefs, throughout this century. This will affect the livelihoods, income and food security of marine-dependent local and indigenous communities, the report said.
海洋栖息地的改变很可能导致海洋动植物物种以及珊瑚礁在本世纪持续大面积消失。报告称，这将影响依赖海洋的当地及原住民社区的生计、收入和粮食安全。
推荐阅读
16岁环保少女联合国发言 批评各国领导人不作为 | 双语阅读
