关于气候变化的英语素材：要做的远不止控制气候变化

THE extent of the devastation will become clear only when the floodwater recedes, leaving ruined cars, filthy mud-choked houses and the bloated corpses of the drowned. But as we went to press, with the rain pounding South Texas for the sixth day, Hurricane Harvey had already set records as America’s most severe deluge. In Houston it drenched Harris County in over 4.5trn litres of water in just 100 hours—enough rainfall to cover an eight-year-old child.

只有当洪水褪去，露出毁坏的汽车，肮脏不堪、充满泥泞的房屋以及溺水而亡之人肿胀的浮尸，灾难的破坏程度才能被完全看清。但是在本刊付梓之际，随着得克萨斯州南部6天的倾盆大雨， “哈维”飓风已经创下美国史上最严重的洪灾记录。在休斯顿，这场飓风席卷整个哈里斯县，仅100小时内降雨量超过4.5万亿升——高度足够淹没一个八岁的孩子。

The fate of America’s fourth-largest city holds the world’s attention, but it is hardly alone. In India, Bangladesh and Nepal, at least 1,200 people have died and millions have been left homeless by this year’s monsoon floods. Last month torrential rains caused a mudslide in Sierra Leone that killed over 1,000—though the exact toll will never be known. Around the world, governments are grappling with the threat from floods. This will ultimately be about dealing with climate change. Just as important, is correcting short-sighted government policy and the perverse incentives that make flooding worse.

休斯顿，这一美国第四大城市的命运牵动着全世界的关注，但它并不是唯一受灾严重的地方。在印度，孟加拉国和尼泊尔，今年的季风洪灾至少已造成1200人的性命，数百万人无家可归。上个月，在塞拉利昂，暴雨引发泥石流，虽然准确的.伤亡人数永远无法得知，但至少造成1000多人死亡。放眼全球，多国政府都在与洪灾威胁角力，这最终也将是与气候变化的斗争。同样重要的还有纠正政府目光短浅的政策和加剧洪灾的不当诱因。

【本文作者：徐州七中彭向梅。(公众号：草根英语行思教)】

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