The Planet in 2011 今天的地球
The Planet in 2011 今天的地球
英语学习点: Conservation Vocabulary 环保词语
This coming Sunday is World Environment Day. So what is the state of the planet in 2011?
This time last year, engineers in the USA were still battling to stop the largest oil spill of its kind in the Gulf of Mexico.
A year on, engineers are trying to prevent a different kind of ocean leak – a radiation leak.
Following the nuclear meltdown at Fukishima in Japan, scientists are struggling to stop contaminated water from reaching the sea.
But for many environmentalists the key challenge remains climate change.
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According to the International Energy Agency, carbon emissions reached a record level last year. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is aiming for greenhouse emissions to peak by 2020, but there are growing doubts about whether the necessary curbs will be implemented.
A recent report by the charity Oxfam highlights the impact global warming will have on food security. Food prices could almost double in the next twenty years, with climate change the main cause.
But there is one good piece of news for conservationists, relating to deforestation. According to the think-tank Chatham House, global illegal logging has fallen by nearly a quarter since 2002.
That fits nicely with the theme for this year's World Environment Day: "Forests - Nature At Your Service".
Glossary 词汇表 (收听发音, 请单击英语单词)
- oil spill 石油泄漏
- radiation leak 辐射泄漏
- nuclear meltdown 核泄漏
- contaminated (被)污染的
- environmentalist 环保人士
- climate change 气候变化
- carbon emissions 碳排放
- curb 控制
- greenhouse (gas) emissions 温室气体排放
- global warming 全球变暖
- food security 食品安全
- conservationist 保护自然人士
- deforestation 砍伐森林
- illegal logging 非法砍伐