单项选择题
| For more than 40 years, Earth has been
sending out distress signals. At first they were subtle, like the thin shells of
bald-eagle eggs that cracked because they were laced (使混合) with DDT. Then the
signs were unmistakable, like the covering of smoke over the Amazon rain forest,
where farmers and ranchers (牧场主人) set fire to clear land. Finally, as the new
millennium drew near, it was obvious that Earth’s pain had become humanity’s
pain. The collapse of the North Atlantic cod (鳕鱼) fishery put 30,000 Canadians
out of work and ruined the economies of 700 communities. In 1998, deforestation
worsened China’s floods, which killed 3,600 people and left 14 million homeless.
Population pressures and overcrowding raised the toll from 1999’s rains in Latin
America, which killed more than 30,000 people and created armies of
environmental refugees. And how have we responded to four decades of ever louder distress signals We’ve staged a procession, of Earth Days, formed Green parties, passed environmental laws, forged a few international treaties and organized global gabfests (杂谈会) like the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. All the while, the decline of earth’s ecosystems has continued unabated. What will it take for us to get serious about saving our environment When will environmentalism more from being a philosophy promoted by a passionate minority to a way of life that governs mainstream behavior and policy How can we understand that Earth is one big natural system and that torching tropical rain forests and destroying coral reefs (珊瑚礁) will eventually threaten the well-being of towns and cities everywhere One crucial step is a true accounting of the state of the planet, a thorough assessment of the health of all Earth’s major ecosystems, from oceans to forests. Only a comprehensive global survey can show how damage to one system is affecting other systems and can determine whether Earth as a whole is losing its ability to nurture the full diversity of life and the economies of nations. |