时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2010年(四)月


英语课

Activist 1 launches worldwide campaign to fight climate change


Rosanne Skirble | Washington, DC 19 April 2010




Bill McKibben at a rally in New York's Times Square - one of over 5,200 events in 181 countries organized by 350.org for the 'International Day of Climate Action.'




Related Links

350.org

U.S. Global Change Research Program




"I went around the world looking for hopeful places to bring back to America to say that our way is not the only way of organizing things in the world..."


 


On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we live on a warming planet. 


Scientists say that warming is linked to increasingly severe droughts, floods and storms and slowly rising ocean levels. Bill McKibben was one of the first voices to warn of climate change two decades ago in his 1989 book, "The End of Nature." He is still speaking out.


Early lessons


McKibben was born in 1960 in Lexington, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the American Revolution.


During his summers in high school, McKibben led tours on the Lexington battlefield telling the story of American democracy and freedom. He says the experience taught him a valuable history lesson.


"I've never confused dissent 2 with the lack of patriotism 3; if anything, just the opposite. You know the people I was talking about showed their patriotism by dissenting 4 from big power."




350.org

In 2006, Bill McKibben led 1,000 people across his home state of Vermont to demand action on climate issues.


Nature in peril 5


After graduating from Harvard with a degree in journalism 6, McKibben spent several years as a magazine columnist 7 before moving to a remote part of New York state. He says that's where he fell in love with the wild woods.


"And it was striking me very hard, the sudden intuitive understanding that it wasn't so wild anymore, that people were changing the temperature of that place, and hence the seasons and the flora 8 and the fauna 9."


That insight was the basis for "The End of Nature," the first book on global warming written for a general audience. McKibben says he thought that if he simply pointed 10 out ecological 11 problems, people would do something about them.


"I was a 27 year old and more than a little naive 12. I completely failed to understand the depth of the kind of cultural transformation 13 that we were going to have to make if we were ever going to deal with climate change."


Explaining climate change


Nevertheless, "The End of Nature" established McKibben as an environmental writer and he has written a dozen more books addressing climate change from many different angles.




Henry Holt & Company

Bill McKibben gives Earth a new name in his latest book: 'Eaarth: Making Life on a Tough New Planet,' to reflect earth's new warming reality.


"I wrote about population. I wrote about popular culture and television and nature. I went around the world looking for hopeful places to bring back to America to say that our way is not the only way of organizing things in the world, on and on and on."


In his latest book, "Eaarth: Making Life on a Tough New Planet," McKibben says he purposely spells Eaarth in the title with two 'A's to underscore how much our world has changed. He says global warming is no longer a threat, but a new reality.


"We see rapid melt of ice at the poles. We see rapid melt of glaciers 14. We see the acidification of sea water. We see more evaporation 15 into the atmosphere.  That means increased drought in arid 16 areas. But it really means increased downpour and deluge 17 and flood one place after another."


Stepping up the fight


McKibben says environmentalism alone can no longer counter the excesses of the American consumer culture.


He says the movement is not powerful enough to deal with global climate change and the overload 18 of carbon in the atmosphere largely from the burning of coal, gas and oil.


To do that, he says, a price must be put on energy, "…to make fossil fuel reflect in its cost the damage it does to the earth."




350.org

Bill McKibben founded 350.org with students at Middlebury College in Vermont, where he is scholar-in-residence.


These are fighting words for Bill McKibben. In 2006, he led 1,000 people across his home state of Vermont to demand new laws on global warming.


A year later, he got six Vermont college students to work with him on a national campaign called "Step It Up" that inspired 2,000 demonstrations 19 across the country. McKibben didn't stop there.


He founded 350.org, a global grassroots advocacy group. The goal is to spread the message that 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is too much.


"It is a very tough number, because we are already past it. We are [at] 385. And we want to have actions and rallies and events and art and music in every nation on earth to just try and take this number and at the very least make sure that humanity knows what its bottom line is."


Grassroots to global


350.org's International Day of Climate Action in October last year included 5,200 such events in 181 countries.  McKibben says, this October, 350.org has similar plans for a global work party.




350.org

This march on the Madison, Wisconsin state capitol was among 2,000 events in the 2007 Step It Up Campaign.


"All over the world people will be in their communities putting up solar panels, digging community gardens, not because we think we can solve this problem one project at a time, but because we think we need to send a message to our leaders [that] we're getting to work, what about you?"


The U.S. House of Representatives has passed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which would require the nation's industries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions 20 by 83 percent over the next four decades. 


The bill is stalled in the U.S. Senate. McKibben says the challenge, simply put, is that saving the earth will require political will.


He hopes communal 21 voices like 350.org that promote activism across the globe can help turn the tide of climate change before it is too late.


 



n.活动分子,积极分子
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
n./v.不同意,持异议
  • It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
  • He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。
n.爱国精神,爱国心,爱国主义
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。
adj.不同意的
  • He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
  • A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物
  • The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
  • The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。
n.新闻工作,报业
  • He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师,可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
  • He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。
n.专栏作家
  • The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
  • She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。
n.(某一地区的)植物群
  • The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
  • All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。
n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物,动物区系
  • This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。
  • Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念,指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。
adj.尖的,直截了当的
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
adj.生态的,生态学的
  • The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
  • Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.
adj.幼稚的,轻信的;天真的
  • It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致,你未免太单纯了。
  • Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。
n.变化;改造;转变
  • Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
  • He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。
冰河,冰川( glacier的名词复数 )
  • Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
  • It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川,又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分(高一)
n.蒸发,消失
  • Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
  • Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗,由此可以蒸发散热。
adj.干旱的;(土地)贫瘠的
  • These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
  • There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
n./vt.洪水,暴雨,使泛滥
  • This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候,这条小溪能变作洪流。
  • I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。
vt.使超载;n.超载
  • Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载,否则船会沉。
  • Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。
证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威
  • Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
  • The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。
排放物( emission的名词复数 ); 散发物(尤指气体)
  • Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
  • Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。
adj.公有的,公共的,公社的,公社制的
  • There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
  • The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。
学英语单词
acting agent
adelphias
Ahwai
amalgamation procedure
anniversal
bagasse
batching interface
be the despair of sb
bone-head
bring sb to terms
Cabezarados
carbamoylphosphate
chafing at the bit
city resident
classic electrodiagnosis apparatus
commutative element
constant pressure turbine
Cordovin
cowardy
craptop
crimson-magenta
Dear Abby
defayte
deletion of independent variable
di-deoxy
ecosystem-type
electromagnetic fuze
electronegative membrane
Emdabolin
encapsulating security payload
ethoxy cellulose
extrauterine pregnancy
fall of channel
FGN-1
fish feeding
fixed broadband
font modification parameter
Gentiana urnula
hepatocellular carcinoma
heteronuclear
homomorphic system
hot manure
hull cutoff voltage
hydriodates
inclined rod grid water film scrubber
International standard of biologicals
isobutyronitrile
krachts
line lamp
Lumbrulcinase
make sth last
marginal sterilization
mean time between service incidents
microoscillations
microthrowing power
minimal face
moment of a magnet
MTPJ
multi-focus
mySAP Business Suite
ne-he separator
Newland's law of octaves
nigromete
nonheterosexuals
normalcy
Orthodox Church
other-than-humans
outweirded
parting machine
pass up on
phenylparaconic acid
pipeline hydraulic transport
polygon method
probe-and-drogue refueling
prototheorids
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother
random dyeing
Reamstown
remiform
rudder-fish
Salvación
screw slotting machine
Seigne, Col.de la
shape-changers
shipboy
shoulder-lines
Stilling's cells
submerged burner
swarf tray
tiagabine
tidal swamp
tricarpic fruit
trilloes
trim control system
unatt
urogenital papilla
US GAAP
vacuum filtration process
vane test
variable time increment
xerically