The Day after Tomorrow

The Day after Tomorrow

(UN Conference on global warming in New Delhi.)
Professor Hall: What we have found locked in these ice cores is evidence of a 1)cataclysmic climate shift, which occurred around ten thousand years ago. The concentration of these natural greenhouse gases in the ice cores indicates that runaway 1 warming pushed the planet into an ice age, which lasted two centuries.
Arabian Reporter: I’m confused. I thought you were talking about global warming, not an ice age.
Professor Hall: Yes, it is a 2)paradox 2, but, global warming can trigger a cooling trend. Let me explain. The Northern Hemisphere owes its temperate 3 climate to the North Atlantic current. Heat from the sun arrives at the equator and is carried north by the ocean. But, global warming is melting the polar ice caps and disrupting this flow.  Eventually it will shut down, and when that occurs, there goes our warm climate.
British Reporter: Excuse me. When do you think this could happen, professor? When?
Professor Hall: I don’t know. May in a hundred years, maybe in a thousand. But what I do know is that if we do not act soon, it is our children and our grandchildren who will have to pay the price.
Vice 4 President: And who’s going to pay the price of the 3)Kyoto Accord? It will cost the world’s economy hundreds of billions of dollars.
Professor Hall: With all due respect, Mr. Vice President, the cost of doing nothing could be even higher. Our climate is fragile. At the rate we’re burning 4)fossil fuels and polluting the environment, the ice caps will soon disappear. 
Vice President: Professor, uh, Hall. Our economy is every bit as fragile as the environment. Perhaps you should keep that in mind before making 5)sensationalist claims.
Professor Hall: Well, the last 6)chunk 6 of ice that broke off was about the size of the State of Rhode Island. Some people might call that pretty sensational 5. 

注释：
1) cataclysmic [7kAtE5klizmik] a. 洪水的，大变动的
2) paradox [5pArEdCks] n. 自相矛盾的话
3) Kyoto Accord 《京都议定书》。为了21世纪的地球免受气候变暖的威胁，1997年12月，149个国家和地区的代表在日本京都召开《联合国气候变化框架公约》缔约方第三次会议，通过了旨在限制发达国家温室气体排放量以抑制全球变暖的《京都议定书》。中国于1998年5月29日签署了该议定书，美国已宣布退出。
4) fossil [5fCsl] n. 化石
5) sensationalist [sen5seiFEnElist] n. 采用耸人听闻手法的人
6) chunk [tFQNk] n. 大块的

后天

（在新德里的联合国全球变暖会议上。）
霍尔教授：我们在这些冰层核心中找到了大概一万年前气候剧变的证据。冰层核心中积聚的天然温室气体表明：失控的温度上升曾把地球推进冰河世纪，长达两百年之久。
阿拉伯记者：我有点糊涂了。我还以为你是在讲关于全球变暖的问题，而不是冰河世纪。
霍尔教授：是的，表面上看似乎是自相矛盾，事实上，全球气温上升会引发冷却的趋势。让我来解释一下吧。北半球温和的气候缘自北大西洋的洋流。太阳的热量到达地球赤道后通过海洋往北输送。但是，全球的气温上升使北极的冰帽融化，从而干扰了这股暖流的流动并最终使之停止。而到那个时候，北半球温和的气候也就随之消失了。
英国记者：那么请问教授，你认为这可能会在什么时候发生呢？到底什么时候？
霍尔教授：我也不知道。也许在一百年后，也许在一千年后。但我知道，如果我们不尽快行动的话，我们的下一代以及我们的后代子孙将为此付出代价。
副总统：那么，又有谁愿意为执行《京都议定书》而付出代价呢？如果执行议定书的协议，全球的经济将为此付出数千亿的代价。
霍尔教授：恕我直言，副总统先生，如果什么都不做的话，代价将更大。我们的气候是很脆弱的。按照现在我们烧耗矿物燃料和污染环境的速度，北极冰帽很快就会消失了。
副总统：呃，霍尔教授，我们的经济跟环境一样，也是很脆弱的。所以，也许你在发表这些骇人听闻论调的时候要考虑一下这一点。
霍尔教授：这么说吧，上次断开的冰块有美国罗得岛州那么大，也许某些人还是会把这叫做耸人听闻吧。