年全球温室气体排放再创新高

Global emissions of greenhouse gases jumped 2.3 percent in 2013 to record levels, scientists reported Sunday, in the latest indication that the world remains far off track in its efforts to control global warming.

科学家周日表示，2013年，全球温室气体排放量增加了2.3%，达到历史新高。这个最新迹象表明，在控制全球变暖方面，国际社会的努力仍远远不够。

The emissions growth last year was a bit slower than the average growth rate of 2.5 percent over the past decade, and much of the dip was caused by an economic slowdown in China, which is the world's single largest source of emissions. It may take an additional year or two to know if China has turned a corner toward slower emissions growth, or if the runaway pace of recent years will resume.

排放量去年的增幅比过去十年中2.5%的平均增长率略低，而且排放量增幅之所以下降，很大程度上是由中国经济增长放缓所引起的。中国是世界上最大的温室气体排放国。可能还需要再花一到两年时间，才能弄清楚中国排放量的增长究竟有没有放缓，还是最近数年那种极高的增速仍会持续。

In the United States, emissions rose 2.9 percent, after declining in recent years.

美国的排放量在经过了最近几年的持续下降后，提高了2.9%。

The new numbers, reported by a tracking initiative called the Global Carbon Project and published in the journal Nature Geoscience, came on the eve of a United Nations summit meeting meant to harness fresh political ambition in tackling climate change. Scientists said the figures showed that vastly greater efforts would be needed to get long-term global warming within tolerable limits.

这些新数据是由一个叫做全球碳计划(Global Carbon Project)的追踪项目提交的，发表在了期刊《自然·地球科学》(Nature Geoscience)上。数据公布之际，正是联合国(United Nations)一次峰会召开前夕。此次峰会意在激发新的政治愿望来解决气候变化问题。科学家说，这些数据表明，如果要把长期的全球变暖问题控制在可以承受的范围内，还需要做出极大的努力。

"You can no longer have some countries go first and others come in later, because there is no more time," said Glen P. Peters, a scientist at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, who helped compile the new numbers. "It needs to be all hands on deck now."

“不能再采取某些国家先行动，其他国家随后行动的策略，因为时间不多了，”奥斯陆国际气候与环境研究中心(Center for International Climate and Environmental Research)的科学家格伦·P·彼得斯(Glen P. Peters)说。他也参与了这些新数据的编制。“现在需要大家齐心协力。”

Yet expectations for the summit meeting on Tuesday are low, with no sign of any political breakthrough that would lead to more ambitious efforts. Scientists say emissions must peak within the next few years, and then begin to decline, if the world is to have any hope of keeping global warming to an upper limit that countries agreed on five years ago. So far, no plans are in place that would come close to achieving that.

不过，人们并没有对周二的峰会寄予过高期望，因为没有任何迹象表明，各国能在政治上实现突破，进而采取更有力的举措。科学家表示，要想如愿把全球变暖控制在各国五年前一致同意的上限，那么未来几年里，就必须扭转排放量上升的势头。现有的所有方案，与实现这一目标都相距甚远。

Emissions have been falling gradually in recent years in most of the developed countries, in part because of economic weakness but also because of strengthening climate policies. Emissions in the 28-nation European Union fell 1.8 percent in 2013, despite increases in coal consumption in a few countries, including Germany and Poland. Emissions decreased sharply in Britain, Italy and Spain.

近年来，大多数发达国家的排放量一直在逐步下降，这部分是因为不景气的经济形势，同时也是因为日益加强的气候政策。2013年，由28个国家组成的欧洲联盟(European Union)的排放量下降了1.8%，虽然德国和波兰等几个国家的耗煤量出现增加。英国、意大利和西班牙的排放量显著下降。

United States emissions had been declining because of increased burning of natural gas in power generation, which emits less carbon dioxide for each unit of energy than does coal. But the nation reported an increase in 2013 as coal regained some market share. If that trend continues, it could prove to be a challenge for the Obama administration as it seeks to institute tighter policies on greenhouse gases.

美国的排放量一直在降低，这是因为发电过程中燃烧天然气的比例增加了；与煤炭相比，燃气发电每单位能量所产生的二氧化碳更少。但美国通报称，2013年的排放量有所增加，因为煤炭重新获得了一些市场份额。如果这种趋势持续下去，它可能会成为奥巴马政府的一个挑战，因为奥巴马政府正试图制定更严格的温室气体政策。

For years, slow emissions declines in the West have been swamped by rising emissions in the East, and the trend continued in 2013. China's emissions grew 4.2 percent and India's 5.1 percent. Both countries have been constructing coal-burning power plants at a breakneck pace.

多年来，西方排放量的缓慢减少，被东方排放量的日益增加所抵消。2013年，这种趋势仍在继续。中国的排放量增加了4.2%，印度增加了5.1%。中印两国一直在以极快的速度修建火力发电厂。

China is spending heavily on renewable and nuclear energy as it tries to slow the growth of coal, but despite those efforts it has become by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Its emissions of 10 billion tons a year of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacturing are almost twice those of the United States, though emissions per person are still far higher in the United States.

为了尝试遏制煤炭消耗量的增长，中国正在可再生能源和核能领域投入巨资，但尽管付出了这些努力，中国迄今为止依然是最大的温室气体排放国。中国每年因化石燃料燃烧和水泥生产排放100亿吨二氧化碳，几乎是美国的两倍，但美国的人均排放量依然远远高于中国。

"China is really in a tough position," Dr. Peters said. "Emissions have grown so much in the last 10 years or so that no matter how you look at China, it has an immense task."

“中国的处境真的很艰难，”彼得斯博士说。“在过去大概十年时间里，排放量增加如此之快，不管怎么看待中国，它的任务都很艰巨。”

In a separate report in early September, the World Meteorological Organization said the level of carbon dioxide in the air in 2013 was 42 percent above the level that prevailed before the Industrial Revolution. Other important greenhouse gases have gone up as well, with methane increasing 153 percent from the preindustrial level and nitrous oxide by 21 percent.

在9月初发布的另一份报告中，世界气象组织(World Meteorological Organization)称，2013年大气中的二氧化碳水平，比工业革命之前的普遍水平高出42%。其他重要的温室气体含量也有所增加，与前工业化时代水平相比，甲烷增加了153%，一氧化二氮增加了21%。

The increase of these and other gases from human activity has caused the planet to warm by about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since the preindustrial era, which is causing land ice to melt all over the world. The oceans are rising at what appears to be an accelerating pace, and heat waves and torrential rains are intensifying.

人类活动造成的这些气体及其他气体的增加，导致地球温度与前工业化时代相比，上升了大约1.5华氏度（约合0.8摄氏度），造成全球陆冰融化。海平面上升的速度似乎正在加快，热浪和暴雨天气越来越多。

The nations of the world have agreed to try to limit the warming to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which would require that emissions slow down and then largely stop in the next 30 years or so. If they continue on their present course through the century, scientists say, the earth could warm by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit above the preindustrial level, which would likely be incompatible with human civilization in its current form.

世界各国同意将地球升温控制在3.6华氏度以内，这需要在未来大约30年里，抑制温室气体排放，之后基本停止排放。科学家表示，如果在本世纪，排放量继续按照当前趋势发展，地球温度将比前工业化时代水平提高10华氏度，那将与人类文明当前的形式不再兼容。