We, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency ― a threat to the survival of our civilization that is gathering ominous and destructive potential even as we gather here. But there is hopeful news as well: we have the ability to solve this crisis and avoid the worst ― though not all ― of its consequences, if we act boldly, decisively and quickly.
However, too many of the world’s leaders are still best described in the words of Winston Churchill applied to those who ignored Adolf Hitler’s threat: “They go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, all powerful to be impotent.”
So today, we dumped another 70 million tons of global-warming pollution into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding our planet, as if it were an open sewer. And tomorrow, we will dump a slightly larger amount, with the cumulative concentrations now trapping more and more heat from the sun.
参考译文
我们人类正在面临一场全球性的危机——一种对我们文明生存的威胁,正当我们聚集此地(共商对策),它不祥之兆愈发显现,潜在的破坏性也日趋严重。但也有令人欣慰的消息：如果采取大胆、果断而又迅速的行动，我们是有能力解决这场危机，尽管不能尽如人意，却可避免最可怕的结果发生。
温斯顿 • 丘吉尔当年在形容那些无视阿道夫 • 希特勒威胁的人时曾说：“他们采取的是一种奇怪的逻辑：决策之后却犹豫不决，下了决心又摇摆不定，实力强大可又无所作为。”这些话用在当今世界各国不少领导人身上是再恰当不过了。
因此，我们今天又将七千万吨温室气体排放到地球外薄薄的大气层里，好像它就是个敞开的大阴沟。明天我们排放的（温室气体）将比今天的还略多些，这样日积月累会吸收更多来自太阳的热量。（复旦大学黄关福教授译）
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