IT COULD be a rare piece of good news in the battle against global warming. The International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s most prominent energy forecaster, said on March 16th that carbon-dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have remained flat for two years in a row. Emissions from the world’s two biggest polluters, America and China, have been falling. The world has not seen such a lull since the early 1980s.

 

對于阻止全球變暖，這可是難得的好消息。國際能源方面的權威組織，國際上最權威的能源預測機構——國際能源署（IEA）3月16日表示，化石燃料碳排放量已連續兩年持平。而其中最大的兩個大戶，美國和中國，（這兩年的排放量）在下降。從80年代起，還是頭一次看到如此令人欣慰的景象。

 

 

The IEA’s most contentious finding is that emissions from China, the world’s biggest polluter, dropped 1.5% last year. Some experts will see this as evidence that China’s emissions will peak within a decade, if they haven’t already. The Chinese government, though, has insisted its emissions will continue to grow until 2030. In a report this month Fergus Green and Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics said the official projections should be taken with a pinch of salt, since the government prefers “to under-promise and over-deliver.”

 

IEA最有争議的發現是中國這個世界上最大的污染制造者，去年的排放量降低了1.5%。有專家認為，若中國的碳排放頂峰應該就在近10年内，即使現在沒達到也不會高太多。不過，中國政府的計劃中，依舊堅持他們在2030年前不會減少排放。來自倫敦政經的 Fergus Green與Nicholas Stern說，政府發言不可輕信，他們喜歡“少做承諾，超額完成”

 

 

Richard Black of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, a British think-tank, says the improvement in China represents a “huge turnaround”, and that its replacement of coal with renewable energy is likely to continue. However Michael Levi of America’s Council on Foreign Relations notes that the United States is still emerging from a period of deep economic weakness, China is restructuring and India is quickly developing, so the conditions that have brought emissions to a standstill may swiftly dissipate. He says that carbon dioxide emissions will need to fall to have a meaningful impact on climate change. “The first step towards reducing emissions is stabilising them, but it’s still only a first step.”

 

ECIU(英國的智庫組織)的Richard Black說這些改善代表着中國正在“大轉身”，可再生能源大量代替煤礦應該是長期行為。美國外交關系委員會成員Michael Levi指出，美國經濟仍在疲軟中，中國正在産業轉型，印度也在飛速發展，眼下的排放停滞的條件并不充分。二氧化碳的減排對于氣候的影響意義深遠，第一步已經走好，但這僅是開始。

 

 

Nickira

 

I am always struck by the fact that the US is with China the biggest polluter and it has about a quarter of the population of China. The GOP climate deniers have an awful lot to answer for. What a dreadful party.

 

我要強調的事實是，美國的人口是中國的四分之一，但是卻産生了全球最多的污染。而該死的GOP（對美國共和黨的蔑稱）還極力否認他們對環境影響。真是個惡心的黨派。

 

Carlingford2

 

"But they need to fall to have a real impact on climate change".“我們需要實質性的對策來應對環境變化”

 

What a lot of hogwash.

 

真是扯淡

 

 

Carlingford2

 

Spot on!!

 

完全正确！

 

 

sikko6

 

China, America, EU and India should reduce pollution. Then problem solved.

 

中國，美國，歐盟，印度都減排，那就都不是事兒了。

 

 

Polar_Bear

 

So you have never seen factory exhaust vents before?

 

所以你是從來沒見過工廠的煙囪麼？

 

 

Carlingford2

 

Pollutants are those that can be seen from from exhaust vents, my boy. Not CO2

 

當然看過，但是排出的是污染物，而不是二氧化碳

 

 

 

 

Moran ya Simba

 

Global warming has taken a pause for a decade and a half by now...

 

全球變暖早已經停止了快10年了吧