氣候變化歸咎抗議？

氣候變化歸咎抗議？
Climate change to blame for protests?
February 23 2011 at 09:14am
By Gerard Wynn
Translation by Autumnson Blog
Libya is said to be on the brink of civil war as forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi pledged to fight for the dictator "until death" while protesters seized control of the eastern region. Photo: Reuters
利比亞據說瀕於內戰，因為忠於卡扎菲上校的部隊承諾為獨裁者“戰爭直至死亡“，而示威者取得東部地區的控制權。圖片：路透社

London - A string of Arab uprisings are giving a foretaste of the likely havoc that climate change will cause without greater effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions, a British foreign ministry official warned.
倫敦- 一連串的阿拉伯起義正在給予可能出現破壞的預示，將導致氣候變化沒有更大的努力，以遏制溫室氣體排放，一名英國外交部官員警告。
Soaring food prices, stoked by Russia's drought last year and subsequent ban on wheat exports, were an additional trigger in the popular revolts across North Africa and the Middle East mostly blamed on public frustration with autocratic rule.
糧食價格飛漲，由俄羅斯去年的乾旱後對小麥出口禁令所引發，是一個額外的觸發器在北非和中東地區流行的起義，主要歸咎於公眾對獨裁統治的挫敗。
“Treat this as a 'prequel', because if we can't remove some of those upward pressures on resource stresses then crises that are difficult to deal with when they happen will become more likely,” said John Ashton, special representative for climate change at Britain's foreign ministry.
“將以此為'前傳'，因為如果我們不能移除對資源緊張其中一些向上的壓力，那麼當危機變得更有可能發生時，他們會是難以處理，“英國外交部氣候變化問題特別代表約翰阿什頓說。
“How these things are going to rattle around the world and where they're going to hit you is inherently unpredictable,” he told Reuters in an interview, using the example of food riots in Mozambique after the Russian wheat export ban.
“這些東西會將如何在世界各地咯咯叫，和他們要去哪裡打擊你固有地是無法預測的，“他在接受採訪時告訴路透社記者，使用莫桑比克的糧食騷亂例子，於俄羅斯小麥出口禁令後。
Tackling climate change by finding low-carbon, energy alternatives to expensive fossil fuels was central to easing energy, water and food security fears, he said in the interview on Monday, pointing to crop failures in Bolivia and oil prices which have passed $100 (about R700) a barrel.
以尋找低碳應對氣候變化，能源副選至昂貴的化石燃料是緩解能源、水和食物安全恐懼的中央，星期一他在採訪說，指著玻利維亞的農作物失收和石油價格已超過100元（約R700）一桶。
Ashton was speaking after giving a lecture in London where he blamed diplomats for putting international climate talks ahead of efforts to convince their own peoples of the risk posed by rising greenhouse gas emissions.
阿什頓在倫敦的講課後發言，他指責外交官把國際氣候談判放在努力說服自己人民，上升的溫室氣體排放所造成的風險之前。
“Most foreign policy elites have yet to embrace and act on this. It would not be harsh to call that a failure of diplomacy,” he said.

Public support was essential for governments to agree new legally-binding emissions cuts, he said, to replace those in the first round of the existing Kyoto Protocol which ends in 2012.

Countries should set voluntary curbs on emissions for now, US climate envoy Todd Stern said on Monday in South Africa, arguing that agreement on binding curbs this year was out of reach.

A Libyan uprising follows revolts which toppled the long-time rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and threatened entrenched dynasties including Bahrain. - Reuters

http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environment/climate-change-to-blame-for-protests-1.1030785