2010年災害頻發(fā)，誰是罪魁禍首？

 

Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.

地震、熱浪、洪災、火山噴發(fā)、超強臺風、暴風雪、山體滑坡和干旱這些在2010年頻繁的災害造成超過了25萬人死亡，是30多年來死亡人數最多的一年。全球死于自然災難的人數超過過去40年來死于恐怖主義襲擊的人數的總和。

"It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.

美國聯邦緊急事務管理局局長克雷格•富蓋特說：“（災難）像海浪般接踵而至。” 2010年該局處理的災難數目突破了歷史記錄。

Even though many catastrophes have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and weird year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.

盡管很多災難看起來是偶發(fā)事件，但是人類的行為使得今年的自然災害頻發(fā)，造成嚴重的后果。今年是死亡人數飆升、損失慘重、天氣極端異常的一年。

Poor construction and development practices conspire to make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable buildings in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river breaches, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die.

低劣的建筑質量和大量的開發(fā)行為加大了地震的殺傷力。越來越多的人擠在城市的危房里，過著貧苦的生活。這意味著，一旦地震發(fā)生、河堤決口或者熱浪來襲，會有更多的人死亡。

Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warming, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.

氣象科學家說地球的氣候也在發(fā)生變化。人為造成的全球變暖帶來了極端的天氣，使得熱浪肆虐，洪水泛濫。