20年內60萬人死於極端天氣 中印受災人數最多

GENEVA — Weather-related disasters in the past two decades have killed more than 600,000 people and inflicted economic losses estimated at trillions of dollars, the United Nations said on Monday, warning that the frequency and impact of such events was set to rise.

日內瓦——聯合國週一表示，在過去二十年裏，與天氣有關的災害奪去了60多萬人的生命，並造成數萬億美元的經濟損失。它還發出警告，此類災害發生的頻率未來還會加大，其影響力也會進一步增強。

The figures were released before a United Nations-backed climate meeting, starting next Monday in Paris, at which more than 120 national leaders will try to rein in greenhouse gas emissions and slow the rise in global temperatures.

這些數字是在聯合國支持召開的全球氣候會議前夕發佈的。該會議將於下週一在巴黎揭幕，屆時120多個國家的領導人將一起商討對策，竭力控制溫室氣體排放，減慢全球氣溫上升的速度。

According to the report from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the United States has suffered the highest number of weather-related disasters in the past two decades, but China and India have been the most severely affected, enduring floods that had an impact on billions of people.

聯合國減災辦公室(United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction)發佈的這份報告顯示，在過去二十年裏，美國出現的與天氣有關的災害數量最多，但中國和印度是受影響最大的國家，有數十億人遭受過洪災。

As well as killing hundreds of thousands, weather-related disasters wounded 4.1 billion others and inflicted economic costs well in excess of $1.9 trillion over the two decades, the report found.

該報告還發現，在過去二十年裏，除了導致數十萬人喪生，與天氣有關的災害還導致另外41億人受傷，並帶來超過1.9萬億美元的經濟損失。

The United Nations office recorded an average of 335 weather-related disasters every year over the two decades, double the level in the previous 10 years. The report counted events that had killed 10 or more people, affected more than 1,000 and generated appeals for external assistance.

據聯合國減災辦公室統計，過去二十年，美國每年平均有335起與天氣有關的災害發生，與之前十年的水平相比，頻率翻倍。該報告統計的是死亡人數至少爲十人，影響人數逾千並需要外部援助的事件的數量。

“Predictions of more extreme weather in the future almost certainly means that we will witness a continued upward trend in weather-related disasters in the decades ahead,” the report said.

“對未來更加極端的天氣狀況的預測顯示，接下來的幾十年，我們幾乎必然會看到，與天氣相關的災害持續增加，”文中寫道。

In a foreword to the findings, Margareta Wahlstrom, the head of the disaster reduction office, said the findings “underline why it is so important that a new climate change agreement emerges” from the summit meeting in Paris.

在這份報告的前言中，聯合國減災辦公室負責人瑪格麗塔·瓦爾斯特倫(Margareta Wahlstrom)表示，這些發現“突顯出”在巴黎舉行的氣候峯會上“達成新的氣候變化協議爲何如此重要”。

Citing the rising temperature of the oceans and melting glaciers as two central drivers of extreme weather, Ms. Wahlstrom said that agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions would help reduce the huge damage and losses inflicted by disasters linked to climate.

瓦爾斯特倫指出，海洋溫度上升和冰川融化是極端天氣狀況出現的兩大核心因素，而削減溫室氣體排放的協議將有助於減少與氣候有關的災害帶來的巨大傷亡和損失。

The connection between extreme weather and climate change is not always clear. There is strong evidence that the warming climate is creating more frequent and intense heat waves, causing heavier rainstorms, worsening coastal flooding and intensifying some droughts, but for many other types of weather occurrences, the linkage is less clear.

極端天氣和氣候變化之間的聯繫並不總是那麼明確。有強有力的證據表明，氣候變暖在製造頻次更多、強度更大的熱浪，引發更嚴重的風暴，加重沿海洪災和一些地區的旱災。不過，在很多其他類型的天氣狀況方面，就不大能確定它們是否和氣候變化有關。

Floods accounted for close to half of all the weather-related disasters, affecting 2.3 billion people, mostly in Asia, the report found. Storms had taken the heaviest toll of lives, however, causing about 242,000 recorded deaths, including 138,000 killed by Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar in 2008.

該報告顯示，與天氣有關的災害有將近一半是洪災，波及23億人，大多數是在亞洲地區。不過，造成人員傷亡最大的是風暴，它導致的有記錄的死亡人數約爲24.2萬，其中單單2008年緬甸遭遇的熱帶氣旋“納爾吉斯”(Cyclone Nargis)就造成了13.8萬人死亡。

Droughts, most acute in Africa, had affected more than a billion people in the past two decades, leading not only to hunger, malnutrition and disease but also to widespread agricultural failure that resulted in long-lasting underdevelopment, the report said.

該報告稱，過去二十年，乾旱問題——在非洲最爲嚴重——影響了逾10億人。它不僅會使人飢餓、營養不良和患病，還會導致廣泛的農業欠收，致使該地區長期落後。

Heat waves had killed 148,000, mostly in Europe, and wildfires had emerged as another climate-related risk, according to the report. About 38 major wildfires in the United States were estimated to have affected more than 108,000 people and caused recorded losses of over $11 billion — numbers the report said were sure to rise when fires that were raging after August 2015, the cutoff point for data, were taken into account.

報告還顯示，熱浪導致了14.8萬人死亡，大部分是在歐洲，而山火作爲另一種與氣候有關的隱患，也開始顯現。美國大概發生了38起重大山火災難，影響人數超過10.8萬人，造成的經濟損失逾110億美元。報告提示，考慮到統計截止時間是在2015年8月，而之後此類災害肆虐，這些數字顯然還會升高。

The figure of $1.9 trillion for the worldwide cost of the disasters was drawn up for the United Nations by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, based in Belgium. The center said that figure was a minimum, however, as data was available for only a little more than a third of the recorded disasters.

全球災難帶來的19萬億美元的損失這一數字，是由位於比利時的災害流行病學研究中心(Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters)得出的。不過該中心表示，這個數字僅爲最低值，因爲他們只拿到了將將超過三分之一的災難統計數據。