亞洲開發銀行：2100年前南亞成長將因氣候變遷削減9% Climate change to cut South Asia’s growth 9 pct by 2100 - ADB

Climate change to cut South Asia’s growth 9 pct by 2100 - ADB

亞洲開發銀行：2100年前南亞成長將因氣候變遷削減9%

Climate change will cut South Asia’s growth almost 9 percent by the end of the century unless world governments try harder to counter global warming, the Asian Development Bank （ADB） said on Tuesday.

亞洲開發銀行週二指出，氣候變遷將會在本世紀末削減南亞近乎9%的成長，除非世界政府更努力對抗全球暖化。

The region is home to a fifth of the world’s population and is already vulnerable to climate extremes： seasonal floods, cyclones and droughts that ravage vast swathes of agricultural land and displace hundreds of thousands of people every year.

此地區是世界5分之1人口的家園，對極端氣候已非常敏感脆弱：蹂躪大片農地的季節性洪水、氣旋，以及乾旱，每年使得數十萬人無家可歸。

Those countries, excluding Sri Lanka, will see more frequent severe weather, damaging property, infrastructure, agriculture and human health, the ADB said. Between 1990 and 2008, more than 750 million people in South Asia were affected by at least one natural disaster, resulting in almost 230,000 deaths, it said.

亞洲開發銀行說，除了斯里蘭卡之外，嚴峻氣候將會在南亞國家日益常見，損害財產、基礎建設、農業及人類健康。它說，1990年到2008年間，南亞超過7億5000萬人至少受到一個天然災害影響，導致23萬人死亡。

The cost of shielding the region against climate change could be lowered if the world’s governments significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions and, if the rise in global temperatures was kept below 2.5 degrees Celsius, that cost could be nearly halved to about $40.6 billion, or 0.48 percent of GDP, it said.

亞洲開發銀行表示，如果各國政府有效減少溫室氣體排放量，並且讓全球氣溫升高幅度維持在低於攝氏2.5度，保護南亞對抗氣候變遷的成本可能會降低，有可能減半至約406億美元，也就是南亞國內生產總值的0.48%。

South Asia also needs to introduce flood- and saline-resistant crop varieties, better coastal zone management, improved disease surveillance, protection of groundwater and greater use of recycled water.

南亞也需要引進抗洪水與鹽水的農作物，更好的海岸區域管理，改善疾病監控，保護地下水並更妥善利用回收水。



新聞辭典

cyclone：名詞，氣旋。例句：A cyclone caused serious damage to the area.（一個氣旋造成該地嚴重損害。）

ravage：動詞，蹂躪、毀壞。例句：Nari Typhoon ravaged Taiwan in 2001, causing $30 billion in damage.（納莉颱風於2001年蹂躪全台，造成300億元的損失。）

greenhouse gas：名詞，溫室氣體。例句：Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, etc.（溫室氣體包括二氧化碳、一氧化二氮、全氟化碳等。）