VOA慢速英語(yǔ):讓全世界的做飯爐灶更安全

讓全世界的做飯爐灶更安全

Smokey cook fires are a leading cause of indoor air pollution - poor air quality inside buildings. Indoor air pollution kills more than four million people each year. The problem is bigger than malaria, tuberculosis or HIV, the virus that causes the disease AIDS.

做飯燒柴的煙污染是室內(nèi)空氣污染的主要原因，這導(dǎo)致室內(nèi)空氣質(zhì)量很差。室內(nèi)的空氣污染每年奪去數(shù)百萬(wàn)人的生命。這一危害比瘧疾、肺結(jié)核或者導(dǎo)致艾滋病的艾滋病毒還要厲害。

Recently, people concerned about the issue met for two days of discussions in New York City. Their hope was to persuade private industry to build and sell better stoves.

最近，人們關(guān)心在紐約舉辦了一場(chǎng)為期兩天的關(guān)于爐灶煙污染的討論。他們希望能說(shuō)服私企生產(chǎn)、出售更好的爐灶。

Traditional open-fire cooking affects the health of both human beings and the world’s environment. Collecting wood for cooking fires is one of the main causes of deforestation. And the gases and soot that come from the fires pollute the air. They also are partly responsible for rising temperatures.

傳統(tǒng)的明火烹飪影響人類(lèi)身體健康和世界環(huán)境。用木材來(lái)燒火做飯是森林砍伐的主要原因。燒火產(chǎn)生的氣體和煤煙污染空氣，同時(shí)多多少少還影響到氣溫的升高。

At the meeting, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that almost three billion people use traditional stoves for heating and cooking. Because of their widespread use, she said, indoor air pollution is an international problem.

會(huì)上，前國(guó)務(wù)卿希拉里·克林頓指出大概有300萬(wàn)人使用傳統(tǒng)的爐灶來(lái)取暖、做飯。因?yàn)閭鹘y(tǒng)的爐灶使用很廣泛，她說(shuō)室內(nèi)空氣污染是個(gè)全球性問(wèn)題。

“But it also, if approached correctly, could be an economic opportunity. And that is the idea behind the alliance.”

“但是如果能夠處理得當(dāng)，也會(huì)是個(gè)商機(jī)。這就是聯(lián)盟的構(gòu)想。”

The Global Alliance for Clean Cook stoves supports companies that make and sell affordable, efficient and less-polluting cookers. The alliance also supports research into developing better stoves.

全球清潔爐灶聯(lián)盟支持公司制造、銷(xiāo)售實(shí)惠、高效以及污染少的爐灶。聯(lián)盟支持研究開(kāi)發(fā)更好的爐灶。

Ms. Clinton helped launch the group in 2010. At the meeting, the United States promised $200 million in financial support and research money. But organizers wanted to raise $500 million.

2010年，克林頓幫助發(fā)起這個(gè)聯(lián)盟組織。會(huì)上，美國(guó)承諾給予2億美元的資金支持。但組織者希望能募集5億美元。

Radha Muthiah is the executive director of the alliance. She says four years after the group was launched, 20 million more households are using clean cook stoves.

拉達(dá)·馬瑟亞是聯(lián)盟的執(zhí)行總監(jiān)。她說(shuō)這個(gè)聯(lián)盟已經(jīng)成立4年了，有2千萬(wàn)的家庭在使用清潔爐灶。

“We've proven that this market-based approach works. Twenty million stoves later, we know that this is a recipe that can be scaled up.”

“事實(shí)證明以市場(chǎng)為基礎(chǔ)采取的做法切實(shí)有效。不久，將會(huì)有2千萬(wàn)的爐灶上市，這是可以擴(kuò)大規(guī)模的試驗(yàn)方法。”

Jim Jetter works as a researcher for the United States Environmental Protection Agency. He says it is not easy to build a low-cost device that people will use.

吉米·杰特是美國(guó)環(huán)境保護(hù)機(jī)構(gòu)的一名研究員，他說(shuō)要?jiǎng)?chuàng)造人們能夠使用的低廉設(shè)備不容易。

“It's a big technical challenge to make a cook stove that has low emissions of air pollutants, that is fuel efficient, and that is low-cost so that people can afford it -- and, most importantly, that it meets the user needs. If it doesn't meet the user’s needs, then people do not use the stoves and, and then there are no benefits.”

“要讓爐灶排放少量的空氣污染物是件很大的技術(shù)挑戰(zhàn)，要求能源充分利用、價(jià)格低廉，人們能夠購(gòu)買(mǎi)的起，而且最重要的是需要滿(mǎn)足用戶(hù)的需求。如果不能滿(mǎn)足用戶(hù)的要求，那人們就不會(huì)使用這種爐灶，也就不會(huì)有利潤(rùn)可言。”

In 2012, improved stoves were tested at 15,000 homes in Orissa, India. Laboratory tests showed that the stoves lowered indoor air pollution. Harvard University economist Rema Hanna helped to write a report on the study.

2012年，經(jīng)過(guò)改良的爐灶在印度奧麗薩邦的1.5萬(wàn)個(gè)家庭中進(jìn)行試驗(yàn)。實(shí)驗(yàn)結(jié)果表明這種爐灶減少了室內(nèi)空氣污染。哈佛大學(xué)的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家漢娜寫(xiě)了一篇關(guān)于此項(xiàng)研究的報(bào)告。

“They slowly fell into disrepair, and households continued to use the traditional cooking stoves as well.”

“他們慢慢的陷入絕望，那些家庭繼續(xù)使用傳統(tǒng)的爐灶。”

The study found that homes with the new stoves were no healthier than those with traditional ones, and they did not use less fuel.

這項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)使用新型爐灶的家庭并不比使用傳統(tǒng)爐灶的家庭更健康，他們使用的燃料并不少。

Radha Muthiah says members of the Alliance know that it is not easy to solve the cook stove problem. She says the group is studying how people use them.

拉達(dá)·馬瑟亞說(shuō)聯(lián)盟的成員知道解決爐灶的問(wèn)題并不是件容易的事，聯(lián)盟研究組在研究人們?nèi)绾问褂脿t灶。

“There have been a lot of failures. Success takes a little bit longer, you know, to show, but we're, we're seeing that. And that, that definitely inspires me.”

“會(huì)有很多失敗，成功還需要時(shí)日，但是我們有希望看到成功，這個(gè)希望確實(shí)在激勵(lì)著我。”

The Alliance says it wants 100 million more homes to have clean cook stoves by 2020. The group believes it will reach that goal early.

聯(lián)盟稱(chēng)預(yù)計(jì)到2020年，將會(huì)有1億家庭使用清潔爐灶，相信能夠早日實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)。

I’m Christopher Cruise.

我是克里斯托弗·克魯斯。