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Global warming may or may not be the great environmental crisis of the 21st century, but- regardless of whether it is or isn't - we won't do much about it.

全球变暖或许是21世纪最大的环境危机，但无论是或不是，我们都不会对全球变暖做什么。

We will argue over it and may even, as a nation, make some fairly solemn-sounding commitments to avoid it.

我们会不断地为此争吵，甚至可能以国家形式作出一些貌似严重的承诺，以避免全球变暖发生。

But the more dramatic and meaningful these commitments seem, the less likely they are to be observed.

但是这些承诺看上去越是戏剧化，越是有意义，就越不可能成为现实。

A1 Gore calls global warming an "inconvenient truth," as if merely recognizing it could put us on a path to a solution.

戈尔称全球变暖为“不可忽视的真相”，好像仅仅认识到其存在，我们就可以找到解决办法。

But the real truth is that we don't know enough to relieve global warming, and - without major technological breakthroughs - we can't do much about it.

但是真正的真相是，我们并不具备足够的知识来缓解全球变暖，如果没有重大的科技突破，我们根本无法做出什么成绩。

From 2003 to 2050,the world 's population is projevted to grow from6.4 billon to 9.1 billion ,a 42% increase.

2003年到2050年，世界人口预计将从64亿增加到91亿，上升42%。

If energy use per person andtechnology remain te same,total energy use and greenhouse gasemissions(mainly,CO2)will be 42% higher in 2050.

如果人均能源消耗和技术水平维持现状，总能量消耗和温室气体排放（主要是二氧化碳）到2050年将会增加42%。

But that's toolow,because societies that grow richer use more energy.We need econmicgrowth unless we condemn the world's poor to their present poverty and freeze everyone else's living standards.

但是这还不算多，因为随着社会越来越富裕，能源的使用也会相应增加。我们需要经济增长，除非我们迫使穷人们处于现在的贫困状态，并且让其他人的生活水平停留在原地不动。

With modestgrowth,energy use and greenhouse emissions more then double by 2050.

就算在增长较少的情况下，到2050年，能源的使用和温室气体的排放也将至少翻一倍。

No government will adopt rigid restrictions on economic growth andpersonal freeom (limits on electricity usage,driving and travel)thatmight cut back global warming.

没有政府会使用严格的限制经济增长和人身自由的措施（限制用电，驾驶和旅游），虽然这些可能有助于环节全球变暖。

Still,politicians want to show they're"doing something"Consider the Kyoto Protoco(京都议定书).It alowedcountries that joined to punish those that didn't.But it hasn'treduced CO2 emissions(up about 25% since 1990),and many signatories(签 字国) didn't adopt tough enough policies to hit their 2008-2012targets.

然而，政治家们想表现出他们正在“做些事情”。想想《京都协议》，它允许参与国家惩罚那些没有加入的国家，但这并没有降低二氧化碳排放量（自1990年以来上升了25%），很多签字国并没有采用足够严格的政策以达到2008年--2012年的目标。

The practical codusion is that if global warming is a potentialdisaster,the only solution is new technology.

比较现实的结论是，如果全球变暖是场潜在的灾难，那么唯一的解决方法就是新技术。

Only an aggressiveresearch and development program miaght find ways of breaking ourdependence on fossil fuels or dealing with it.

只有通过这一项积极的研究和发展项目，才可能找到方法打破现有的对矿物燃料的依赖或者解决这一问题。

The trouble with the global warming debate is that it has become amoral proble when it's teally an engineering one.

全球变暖这场辩论的麻烦在于，当它应该还是个工程问题的时候，已经成为了道德问题。

The inconvenienttruth is that if we don't solve the engineering problem, we're helpless.

不可忽视的真相是，如果没有办法解决工程问题，我们就真的无能为力了。