Global warming
In the line of fire
The world is losing the war against climate change
全球变暖
火线狙击
世界正在输掉对抗气候变化之战

Living in a fuel’s paradise
活在燃料天堂
Insufficient progress is not to say no progress at all. As solar panels, wind turbines and other low-carbon technologies become cheaper and more efficient, their use has surged. Last year the number of electric cars sold around the world passed 1m. In some sunny and blustery places renewable power now costs less than coal.我们说进展不足，并不是说毫无进展。随着太阳能电池板、风力发电机及其他低碳技术变得更便宜高效，其应用已经激增。去年全球售出超过100万辆电动汽车。在一些阳光或风力充沛的地方，可再生能源发电的成本已低于煤炭。

Optimists say that decarbonisation is within reach. Yet, even allowing for the familiar complexities of agreeing on and enforcing global targets, it is proving extraordinarily difficult.乐观主义者说脱碳已经指日可待。然而，即便要达成并实施全球性目标通常都很复杂，脱碳这件事仍显现出非比寻常的难度。
One reason is soaring energy demand, especially in developing Asia. In 2006-16, as Asia’s emerging economies forged ahead, their energy consumption rose by 40%. The use of coal, easily the dirtiest fossil fuel, grew at an annual rate of 3.1%. Use of cleaner natural gas grew by 5.2% and of oil by 2.9%. Fossil fuels are easier to hook up to today’s grids than renewables that depend on the sun shining and the wind blowing. Even as green fund managers threaten to pull back from oil companies, state-owned behemoths in the Middle East and Russia see Asian demand as a compelling reason to invest.其中一个原因是能源需求飙升，特别是在亚洲发展中国家。2006年至2016年，亚洲新兴经济体蓬勃发展，能源消耗随之增长40%。煤炭（无疑是污染最严重的化石燃料）的使用量以每年3.1%的速度上升。较清洁的天然气的使用量增速为5.2%，石油为2.9%。相比依赖阳光和风的可再生能源，化石燃料更容易接入现有电网。尽管绿色基金经理威胁从石油公司撤资，但亚洲的能源需求也足以促使中东和俄罗斯的国有能源巨头继续投资。

Blood, sweat and geoengineers
血、汗、地球工程师
Yet none of these fixes will come to much unless climate listlessness is tackled head on. Western countries grew wealthy on a carbon-heavy diet of industrial development. They must honour their commitment in the Paris agreement to help poorer places both adapt to a warmer Earth and also abate future emissions without sacrificing the growth needed to leave poverty behind.然而，如果不能从正面纠正人们面对气候问题的怠惰态度，这些补救措施将难以发挥很大的作用。西方国家通过高碳排放的工业发展富裕起来。它们必须履行在《
巴黎
协定》中的承诺，既要帮助贫困地区应对地球变暖，又要帮助它们减少未来的碳排放，同时又不会牺牲掉摆脱贫困所需的发展。

Averting climate change will come at a short-term financial cost—although the shift from carbon may eventually enrich the economy, as the move to carbon-burning cars, lorries and electricity did in the 20th century. Politicians have an essential role to play in making the case for reform and in ensuring that the most vulnerable do not bear the brunt of the change. Perhaps global warming will help them fire up the collective will. Sadly, the world looks poised to get a lot hotter first.遏止气候变化将需要付出短期的经济代价，虽然脱碳最终可能会造福经济，就像20世纪人们转用高碳的汽车、卡车和电力那样。在提倡改革并确保最弱势群体不会承受改革最大的冲击方面，政客们发挥着至关重要的作用。也许全球变暖将帮助他们点燃人们的共同意愿。遗憾的是，整个世界似乎免不了要先变得酷热许多。

全文·https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404270301180519381