威爾斯美語忠孝分校

Optimistic about Climate Change
樂觀面對氣候變遷

"Believe it or not, I'm very optimistic about our future as a species,"says American naturalist Diane Ackerman. We can, Ackerman states, slow down the climate change, counter some of the damage we've done to the planet, and prevent the situation from getting worse—though it may take several generations. In fact, many countries are now making policies that can both cut carbon emissions and create new job opportunities. For example, an Indian climate-sparing program involves planting two billion trees along the highways in India. Through this tree-planting program, CO2 can be absorbed and 300,000 people can be employed. Other examples include that Germany in May 2014 alone produced 74% of its energy from renewables, Sweden now recycles 99% of its household waste, and China plans to invest $16 billion on infrastructure for electric cars.

美國自然主義作家Diane Ackerman認為，人類的未來還是很樂觀的。她指出，我們有能力減緩氣候變遷的速度、彌補過去對地球造成的傷害及避免情況更加惡化，即便這可能需要數個世代的努力。事實上，許多國家正在發展、實施可以同時減少二氧化碳排放量，並且增加工作機會的政策。例如，印度計畫沿著公路種植 20 億棵樹木吸收二氧化碳，並創造 300,000 個工作機會。其他的例子包含：光是今年 5 月，德國就有 74% 的能源來自再生能源，瑞典現在回收 99% 的家用廢棄物；而中國正準備投資 160 億的經費發展環保電動車。■

本文收錄於英語島English Island 2014年11月號