關於氣候變化的英語素材：要做的遠不止控制氣候變化

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.

只有當洪水褪去，露出毀壞的汽車，骯髒不堪、充滿泥濘的房屋以及溺水而亡之人腫脹的浮屍，災難的破壞程度才能被完全看清。但是在本刊付梓之際，隨着得克薩斯州南部6天的傾盆大雨， “哈維”颶風已經創下美國史上最嚴重的洪災記錄。在休斯頓，這場颶風席捲整個哈里斯縣，僅100小時內降雨量超過4.5萬億升——高度足夠淹沒一個八歲的孩子。

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.

休斯頓，這一美國第四大城市的命運牽動着全世界的關注，但它並不是唯一受災嚴重的地方。在印度，孟加拉國和尼泊爾，今年的季風洪災至少已造成1200人的性命，數百萬人無家可歸。上個月，在塞拉利昂，暴雨引發泥石流，雖然準確的.傷亡人數永遠無法得知，但至少造成1000多人死亡。放眼全球，多國政府都在與洪災威脅角力，這最終也將是與氣候變化的鬥爭。同樣重要的還有糾正政府目光短淺的政策和加劇洪災的不當誘因。

【本文作者：徐州七中彭向梅。(公眾號：草根英語行思教)】

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