全球变暖将导致“鬼国”出现-英语点津

Global warming could create "ghost states" with governments in exile ruling over scattered citizens and land that has been abandoned to rising seas, an expert said yesterday.

一位专家昨天表示，全球变暖可能导致“鬼国”出现，这些国家背井离乡的政府将统治稀少分散的公民，以及由于海平面上升而被丢弃的国土。

Francois Gemenne, of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations in Paris, said the likely loss of small island states such as Tuvalu and the Maldives raised profound questions over nationality and territory.

巴黎可持续发展和国际关系研究所的弗兰科斯·格梅恩表示，图瓦卢和马尔代夫等小岛国家可能的损失为民族和领土问题提出了深刻的疑问。

"What would happen if a state was to physically disappear but people want to keep their nationalities? It could continue as a virtual state even though it is a rock under the ocean and its people no longer live on that piece of land."

“如果一个国家在地理上消失了而人们又希望保留自己的国籍，那会怎样呢？它可能作为一个虚拟的国家继续存在，尽管它已是海里面的一块石头，并且它的子民已经不再生活在那里。”

Gemenne said there was more at stake than cultural and sentimental attachments to swamped countries. Tuvalu makes millions of pounds each year from the sale of its assigned internet suffix .tv to television companies. As a nation state, the Polynesian island also has a vote on the international stage through the UN.

弗兰科斯称，对淹没的国家来说有比文化和情感眷恋更利害攸关的事情。图瓦卢每年通过出售互联网域名后缀（.tv）使用权给电视公司赚取数百万英镑。作为一个民族国家，联合国成员国波利尼西亚在国际舞台上也拥有自己的投票权。

"As independent nations they receive certain rights and privileges that they will not want to lose. Instead they could become like ghost states," he said. "This is a pressing issue for small island states, but in the case of physical disappearance there is a void in international law."

他说：“作为独立的国家，它们获得了一定的权利和特权，它们不希望失去这些。否则，它们就会变成‘鬼国’。这对于小岛国家来说是迫切的问题，但有关地理上消失的情况，国际法还是一片空白。”

Experts say it is a matter of time before global warming drives up sea levels the one or two metres it would take to force permanent evacuation of islands such as Tuvalu, the highest point of which is four metres above water.

专家表示，全球变暖致使海平面上升一到两米只是时间问题，到时它将迫使图瓦卢等岛国的居民永久撤离，该岛国的最高点只比水面高出四米。

The study of 23 regions where environmental degradation has caused people to move had showed that fears of millions of people flooding across borders could be misplaced. Most movement was within countries, Gemenne said.

弗兰科斯称，对23个因为环境退化导致人们迁移的地区的研究显示，对数百万人涌出国界的担心可能是过虑了。大多数迁移都是在国家内部进行的。

The poorest and most vulnerable people were often unable to migrate, the research showed. "The poorest people lack the social and economic capital to escape," said Gemmene.

研究显示，最贫困和最易受伤害的人往往无法迁移。弗兰科斯说：“最贫困的人缺乏逃离所需的社会和经济资本。”

Simon Hales of the World Health Organisation told the conference that widespread population movement would also pose a significant risk to global health. Health protection in a 4C warmer world, he said, would require "substantial redistribution" of global resources such as food, water and energy.

世界卫生组织的西蒙·黑尔斯在会议上表示，广泛的人口流动也将对全球健康构成严重威胁。他称，在一个气温升高4摄氏度的世界里，卫生防护将要求将全球资源进行“大规模再分配”，例如食物、水和能源。