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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
In Copenhagen, Denmark, the United Nations Climate Change Conference opened this week. Around fifteen thousand delegates and observers from nearly two hundred countries are there. Some call it "the last best chance" for an agreement to fight climate change.
本周，联合国气候变化大会在丹麦的哥本哈根召开。来自接近 200 个国家约有 15000 名代表和观察员齐聚哥本哈根。有人称之为达成应对气候变化协议的最后的最可能的机会。
Yvo de Boer is the top climate official at the United Nations.
Yvo de Boer 是联合国的气候变化高级官
YVO DEBOER: "The time for formal statements is over. The time for restating well known positions is past. The time has come to reach out to each other. I urge you to build on your achievements, take up the work that has already been done and turn it into real action."
Yvo de Boer ：做一个正式声明的时代已经终结了；重申人所共知的立场已经过去了；触及所有人的时代已经来了。我敦促你们在现有的成就上继续努力，继续已经做的工作并真正的行动起来。
But there are questions about how much can be done, and how an agreement would be put into action.
但是在多大程度上可以做和怎样实施协议等仍然有许多问题。
The twelve-day conference ends next Friday. Late next week, leaders from more than one hundred countries are expected at the talks, including President Obama.
为期 12 天的会议于下周五结束。大下周， 100 多个国家的领导人，其中有奥巴马总统，将会参加会议。
Delegates hope to set new targets to reduce greenhouse gases -- the pollution blamed for trapping extra heat in the atmosphere. An existing agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, ends in two thousand twelve. Many countries have offered new proposals for cuts, including the United States and China.
代表都希望设定一个新的目标以减少温室气体，就是在因为在大气中吸收额外热量而成为污染的气体。现存的协议是东京条约，它在 2012 年到期。包括美国和中国在内的许多国家已就减排提出方案。
China is now the leading producer of greenhouse gases. But the United States and other industrialized nations were the top polluters for years. So they are under extra pressure to reduce emissions from cars, factories and other sources.
现在中国是主要的温度气体排放国；但是美国和其它的一些工作国家过去许多年一直是最大的排放国。所以这些国家在减少汽车、工厂和其它的污染源排放量上面临着巨大的压力。
In Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a threat to public health. That clears the way for the administration to set limits, unless Congress acts first.
周一位于华盛顿的环境保护机构宣布了二氧化碳气体和一些其它的温室气体危害大众建康。这杜绝了政府设置限制，除非国会立法反对在先。
But developing countries are also being urged to do more. And they, in turn, want help. They criticized a proposal for industrialized nations to pay developing countries ten billion dollars a year over three years. The World Bank says dealing with climate change will require hundreds of billions a year in public and private financing.
但是发展中国家也被敦促要做出更多的努力。当然发展中国家想得到帮助。他们批评发达国家在三年中每年给发展中国家提供 100 亿美元的方案。世界银行认为每年需要数千亿美元的公众和私人资金来应对气候变化。
In New York, the United Nations secretary-general reacted to a dispute over e-mails stolen from the University of East Anglia in England. Critics say the messages show climate change scientists discussing ways to discredit other theories about global warming. But Ban Ki-Moon said Tuesday that the evidence is "quite clear" that humans are the main cause of temperatures rising faster than expected.
联合国秘书长在纽约回应关于来自于英国 East Anglia 大学的电子邮件被偷的争论。批评人士说那信息显示讨论怀疑其它气候变暖理论的方法的气候变化科学家。但是潘基文在周二说有充分、清楚的证据表明人类活动是气候变化速度快于人们原来预期的主要原因。
Modern climate records date back to eighteen fifty. The United Nations weather agency says two thousand to two thousand nine was the warmest decade on record. And it said this week that final results will likely show two thousand nine was the fifth-warmest year on record.
现代的气候记录可以追朔到 1850 年。联合国天气机构认为 2000 年到 2009 年是有记录以来的最暖的十年。该机构还说本周最终果可能表明 2009 年是有记录以来的最暖和的第 15 年。
Current estimates show record warmth this year in large parts of southern Asia and central Africa . The agency reported that the only parts of the world with cooler than average conditions this year were the United States and Canada.
目前估计显示南部非洲和中亚的大部分地区有最大变暖。该机构报道全世界仅有的低于全球变暖平均水平的是美国和加拿大。
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. For the latest news from Copenhagen , go to www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.
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