名校励志英语演讲 07:给大学毕业生的几个忠告

 　　If the world continues on a business-as-usual path, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that there is a fifty-fifty chance the temperature will exceed 5 degrees by the end of this century. This increase may not sound like much, but let me remind you that during the last ice age, the world was only 6 degrees colder. During this time, most of Canada and the United States down to Ohio and Pennsylvania were covered year round by a glacier 1. A world 5 degrees warmer will be very different. The change will be so rapid that many species, including Humans, will have a hard time adapting. I’ve been told for example, that, in a much warmer world, insects were bigger. I wonder if this thing buzzing around is a precursor 2.

　　联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）预测，如果全世界保持现在的经济模式不变，本世纪末气温5度的可能性是50%。这听起来好像不多，但是让我来提醒你，上一次的冰河期，地球的气温也仅仅下降了6度。那时，俄亥俄州和宾夕法尼亚州以下的大部分美国和加拿大的土地，都终年被冰川覆盖。气温 上升5度的地球，将是一个非常不同的地球。由于气候变化来得太快，包括人类在内的许多生物，都将很难适应。比如，有人告诉我，在更温暖的环境中，昆虫的个头将变大。我不知道现在身旁嗡嗡叫的这只大苍蝇，是不是就是前兆。
　　We also face the specter of nonlinear “tipping points” that may cause much more severe changes. An example of a tipping point is the thawing 3 of the permafrost. The permafrost contains immense amounts of frozen organic matter that have been accumulating for millennia 4. If the soil melts, microbes will spring to life and cause this debris 5 to rot. The difference in biological activity below freezing and above freezing is something we are all familiar with. Frozen food remains 6 edible 7 for a very long time in the freezer, but once thawed 8, it spoils quickly. How much methane 9 and carbon dioxide might be released from the rotting permafrost? If even a fraction of the carbon is released, it could be greater than all the greenhouse gases we have released since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Once started, a runaway 10 effect could occur.
　　我们还面临另一个威胁，那就是非线性的“气候引爆点”，这会带来许多更严重的变化。“气候引爆点”的一个例子就是永久冻土层的融化。永久冻土层经过千万年的累积形成，其中包含了巨量的冻僵的有机物。如果冻土融化，微生物就将广泛繁殖，使得冻土层中的有机物快速腐烂。冷冻后的生物和冷冻前的生物在生物学特性上的差异，我们都很熟悉。在冷库中，冷冻食品在经过长时间保存后，依然可以食用。但是，一旦解冻，食品很快就腐烂了。一个腐烂的永久冻土层，将释放出多少甲烷和二氧化碳？即使只有一部分的二氧化碳被释放出来，可能也比我们从工业革命开始释放出来的所有温室气体还要多。这种事情一旦发生，局势就失控了。
　　on Climate change, 政府间气候变化专门委员会，简称IPCC,是一个附属于联合国之下的跨政府组织、在1988年由世界气象组织、联合国环境署合作成立，专门负责研究由人类活动所造成的气候变迁。改委员会本身并不进行研究工作，其主要工作时发表和执行《联合国气候变化框架公约》有关的专题报告。
　　glacier
　　n. 冰河；冰川
　　eg. Rocks of assorted 11 sizes and shapes are embeded in the bottom of a glacier.
　　多种尺寸和形状的岩石都埋藏在冰川的底部。
　　buzz
　　n. vi. 发出嗡嗡声
　　eg. There was some little buzz of conversation going on among the people.
　　不时听得人群中有喁喁私语的声音。
　　percursor
　　n. 预兆
　　eg. Viewed as a precursor to a wider open data movement, it could be as important as any we have seen in the web era.
　　它被视为更宽泛的数据开放运动的先导，它将像我们在互联网时代看到的所有重要的事物一样重要。
　　specter
　　n. 幽灵，恐怖之物
　　eg. No man, if he be truthful 12, can say that the specter of war is banished 13.
　　没有人，如果他是真诚的，能够说战争的幽灵已经被消除。
　　nonlinear
　　adj. 非线性的
　　eg. Snake is linear, but when it feeds back into itself it becomes the archetype of nonlinear being.
　　蛇是线性的，但当它回身咬住自己的时候，它就变成了非线性物体的原型。
　　thawing
　　n. 融解
　　eg. Frozen products should show no signs of thawing.
　　冷冻产品应显示没有解冻的迹象。
　　permafrost
　　n. 永久冻土
　　eg. Canadian researchers expressed serious concerns about the erosion of permafrost in the Arctic.
　　加拿大研究人员对北极地区永冻层的侵蚀表示严重关切。
　　immense
　　adj. 巨大的
　　eg. They plunged 14 into their work with immense zeal 15.
　　他们以极大的热情投入工作。
　　millennia
　　n. 千年期（millennium的复数）
　　eg.
　　These forests have reigned 16 supreme 17 for countless 18 millennia.
　　这些森林生长繁茂已有千万年之久。
　　microbe
　　n. 细菌，微生物
　　eg. The experiments result is that the microbe play a part of the role of the promotion 19 on form of the bronze disease.
　　实验结果表明：微生物在青铜腐蚀中起了促进作用。
　　debris
　　n. 碎片，残骸，（冰川积聚的的）碎石
　　eg. The debris has piled up against the wall.
　　那堵墙下瓦砾成堆。
　　edible
　　adj. 可食用的
　　eg. This week, the talk in the blogoma seems to be about all things edible.
　　这个星期，摩洛哥博客圈谈论的似乎是关于所有可食的东西。
　　methane
　　n. 甲烷
　　eg. Whatever oxidises the methane would itself get used up in the process, and so would also need to be replenished 20.
　　无论是什么物质氧化了甲烷，自身都会在这一过程中殆尽，因此也需要不断的被补充。
　　runaway
　　adj. 失控的；逃亡的
　　eg. Our June sale was a runaway success.
　　我们6月份的促销大获成功。