氣候變暖讓全球逾10億人面臨酷熱風險
More than 1 billion people are at risk from a lack of air conditioning and refrigeration to keep them cool and to preserve food and medicines as global warming brings more high temperatures, a study showed.
一項研究顯示，由於氣候變暖，高溫天氣更加普遍，超過10億人正面臨沒有空調降暑，冰箱保存糧食與藥物的風險。More electricity demand for fridges, fans and other appliances will add to manmade climate change unless power generators shift from fossil fuels to cleaner energies, according to the report by the nonprofit Sustainable Energy for All group.
非盈利組織“人人享有可持續能源”編纂的報告指出，除非人們能摒棄化石燃料轉而使用較潔淨的能源發電，否則電冰箱、電扇及其他家電將需耗用更多電，進而加劇人爲導致的氣候變化問題。About 1.1 billion people in Asia, Africa and Latin America -- 470 million in rural areas and 630 million slum dwellers in cities -- were at risk among the world's 7.6 billion people, it said.
該報告稱，在全世界76億人口當中，來自亞洲、非洲以及拉丁美洲的11億人將會處於風險之中。其中，農村約有4.7億人，城市貧民窟則約有6.3億人。
"Cooling becomes more and more important" with climate change, said Rachel Kyte, head of the group and special representative for the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All.
“人人享有可持續能源”倡議聯合國祕書長特別代表雷切爾·基特表示：“隨着氣候變化，清涼變得越來越重要。”The UN's health agency says that heat stress linked to climate change is likely to cause 38,000 extra deaths a year worldwide between 2030 and 2050.
聯合國的衛生機構表示，2030-2050年，與氣候變化有關的暑熱壓力可能使全球範圍內每年額外死亡3.8萬人。In remote areas in tropical countries, many people lack electricity and clinics are often unable to store vaccines or medicines that need to be chilled. And in city slums, electricity supplies are often intermittent.
在熱帶國家的偏遠地區，許多人缺乏電力，而診所往往無法儲存需要冷藏的疫苗或藥品。在城市貧民窟，電力供應往往是斷斷續續的。Many farmers or fishermen, meanwhile, lack access to a "cold chain" to preserve and transport products to markets. Fresh fish goes off within hours if stored at 30℃ but stays fresh for days when chilled.
與此同時，許多農民或漁民無法通過“冷鏈”來保存和運輸產品到市場。如果在30攝氏度的溫度下保存，魚會在數小時內變得不新鮮，但在冷藏時會保持數天新鮮。
