Old problem, new approaches
老问题，新办法
While clean energy is increasingly used in our daily life, global warming will continue for some decades after CO2 emissions peak. So even if emissions were to begin to decrease today, we would still face the challenge of adapting to climate change. Here I will stress some smarter and more creative examples of climate adaptation.
虽然清洁能源越来越多地被用于我们的日常生活，但在二氧化碳排放达到峰值后，全球变暖仍将持续几十年。因此，即使排放量现在开始减少，我们仍将面临适应气候变化的挑战。在这里，我将强调一些更聪明、更有创意的气候适应例子。
When it comes to adaptation, it is important to understand that climate change is a process. We are therefore not talking about adapting to a new standard, but to a constantly shifting set of conditions. This is why, in part at least, the US National Climate Assessment says that: “There is no ‘onesize fits all’ adaptation.” Nevertheless，there are some actions that offer much and carry little risk or cost.
当谈到适应时，重要的是要理解气候变化是一个过程。因此，我们谈论的不是适应一个新的标准，而是适应一系列不断变化的条件。这就是为什么，至少在一定程度上，美国国家气候评估说：“不存在‘一刀切’的适应。”尽管如此，仍有一些行动效果好，风险小或成本低。
Around the world, people are adapting in surprising ways, especially in some poor countries. Floods have become more damaging in Bangladesh in recent decades. Mohammed Rezwan saw opportunity where others saw only disaster. His notforprofit organization runs 100 river boats that serve as floating libraries, schools, and health clinics, and are equipped with solar panels and other communicating facilities. Rezwan is creating floating connectivity to replace flooded roads and highways. But he is also working at a far more fundamental level: his staff show people how to make floating gardens and fish ponds to prevent starvation during the wet season.
在世界各地，人们正在以令人惊讶的方式适应，尤其是在一些贫穷国家。近几十年来，孟加拉国的洪水破坏性越来越大。穆罕默德·雷兹万看到了机会，而其他人只看到了灾难。他的非营利组织经营着100艘内河船，用作浮动图书馆、学校和诊所，并配备了太阳能电池板和其他通信设施。雷兹万正在创建浮动连接以取代被洪水淹没的道路和高速公路。但他也为底层服务：他的工作人员向人们展示如何制作漂浮花园和鱼塘，以防止雨季挨饿。
Elsewhere in Asia even more astonishing actions are being taken. Chewang Norphel lives in a mountainous region in India, where he is known as the Ice Man. The loss of glaciers there due to global warming represents an enormous threat to agriculture. Without the glaciers, water will arrive in the rivers at times when it can damage crops. Norphel's inspiration came from seeing the waste of water over winter, when it was not needed. He directed the wasted water into shallow basins where it froze, and was stored until the spring. His fields of ice supply perfectly timed irrigation water. Having created nine such ice reserves, Norphel calculates that he has stored about 200,000 m3 of water. Climate change is a continuing process, so Norphel's ice reserves will not last forever. Warming will overtake them. But he is providing a few years during which the farmers will, perhaps, be able to find other means of adapting.
在亚洲其他地方，甚至正在采取更令人震惊的行动。Chewang Norphel生活在印度的一个山区，在那里他被称为“冰人”。由于全球变暖，冰川消失，那里的农业面临巨大威胁。如果冰川消失，水会不时地流入河流，破坏农作物。Norphel的灵感来自于在冬天看到水的浪费，而冬天并不需要水。他将浪费的水引导到浅水池中，在那里结冰，并一直储存到春天。他的冰原提供适时的灌溉用水。在创建了九个这样的冰储池后，Norphel计算出他已经储存了大约20万立方米的水。气候变化是一个持续的过程，所以Norphel的冰储量不会永远持续下去，变暖将胜出。但他争取了几年的时间，在这几年里，农民也许能够找到其他适应的方法。
Increasing Earth's reflectiveness can cool the planet. In southern Spain the sudden increase of greenhouses (which reflect light back to space) has changed the warming trend locally, and actually cooled the region. While Spain as a whole is heating up quickly, temperatures near the greenhouses have decreased. This example should act as an inspiration for all cities. By painting buildings white, cities may slow down the warming process.
增加地球的反射率可以使地球降温。在西班牙南部，温室的突然增加（将光线反射回太空）改变了当地的变暖趋势，实际上使该地区降温。虽然整个西班牙正在迅速升温，但温室附近的温度却有所下降。这个例子应该激励所有城市。通过将建筑物刷成白色，城市可能会减缓气候变暖的进程。
In Peru, local farmers around a mountain with a glacier that has already fallen victim to climate change have begun painting the entire mountain peak white in the hope that the added reflectiveness will restore the lifegiving ice. The outcome is still far from clear. But the World Bank has included the project on its list of “100 ideas to save the planet”.
在秘鲁，一座遭受气候变化影响的冰川所在山峰的周围农民已经开始将整个山峰涂成白色，希望增加的反光度能恢复这片赋予生命的冰。结果仍然很不明朗。但世界银行已将该项目列入其“拯救地球的100个想法”名单。
More ordinary forms of adaptation are happening everywhere. A friend of mine owns an area of land in western Victoria. Over five generations the land has been too wet for cropping. But during the past decade declining rainfall has allowed him to plant highly profitable crops. Farmers in many countries are also adapting like this—either by growing new produce, or by growing the same things differently. This is common sense. But some suggestions for adapting are not. When the polluting industries argue that we've lost the battle to control carbon pollution and have no choice but to adapt, it's a nonsense designed to make the case for business as usual.
更普通的适应形式正在各地发生。我的一个朋友在维多利亚州西部拥有一块土地。五代人以来，这块土地一直太湿，无法种植。但在过去的十年里，降雨量的下降使他能够种植利润丰厚的作物。许多国家的农民也在通过种植新产品或以不同的方式种植相同的东西来适应这种情况。这是常识。但一些适应的建议并非如此。当污染行业辩称我们在控制碳污染的斗争中失败了，别无选择，只能适应时，这是一种无稽之谈，只是为了让业务照常进行。
Human beings will continue to adapt to the changing climate in both ordinary and astonishing ways. But the most sensible form of adaptation is surely to adapt our energy systems to emit less carbon pollution. After all, if we adapt in that way, we may avoid the need to change in so many others.
人类将继续以通常和惊人的方式适应不断变化的气候。但最明智的适应方式肯定是调整我们的能源系统，以减少碳污染。毕竟，如果我们以这种方式适应，我们可能会避免在许多其他方面做出改变。
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