研究发现空气污染对人类寿命的影响超过烟草

近日，芝加哥大学一项研究表明，空气污染对人类寿命的影响超过烟草。该研究得出结论，空气污染是全球公共卫生的头号威胁，会导致全球人均寿命缩短2.3年。

🤔️小作业：

1. Which statement best captures the main conclusion of the report from the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute?

a. Air pollution increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes. b. Cigarette smoking has a larger impact on life expectancy than air pollution.

c. Public complaints about air quality have minimal effect on firms' actions.

d. Air pollution poses a more significant threat to global health than tobacco usage.

a. India has surpassed its goal of air-quality monitoring stations.

b. India has made rapid progress in increasing its monitoring stations in recent years.

c. The number of monitoring stations India has installed is below its stated aim.

d. India's National Clean Air Program started in 2020.

无注释原文：

Polluted Air Shortens Human Lifespans More Than Tobacco, Study Finds

From: The Wall Street Journal

Cigarette smoking and other uses of tobacco shave an average of 2.2 years off lifespans globally. But merely breathing—if the air is polluted—is more damaging to human health. 

That is the conclusion of a report published Tuesday by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, which identified air pollution as the world’s top threat to public health, responsible for reducing average life expectancy by 2.3 years worldwide.  

Between 2013 and 2021, the world’s second-largest economy improved overall air quality by more than 40% while the average lifespan of residents increased by more than two years, according to the report.

By contrast, four countries in South Asia—India, Bangladesh Nepal and Pakistan—accounted for more than half of the total years of life lost globally due to pollution in the atmosphere over the same eight years. India alone was responsible for nearly 60% of the growth in air pollution across the globe during that time. 

If India were to meet World Health Organization guidelines for particulate pollution, the life expectancy for residents of capital city New Delhi would increase by 12 years.

An increase in wildfires in places such as California and Canada has renewed attention on the dangers of polluted air. Around 350 cities globally suffer the same level of dangerous haze that enveloped New York City in June at least once a year, according to calculations from environmental think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which aggregates data from dozens of official government sources.  

How seriously a country takes the problem typically depends in part on public awareness, according to Michael Greenstone, an economics professor at the University of Chicago who contributed to the report. Knowledge of the health risks of poor air quality is low in many African and Asian countries, which suffer the worst outcomes. 

“Air-pollution improvements are often driven by the demand of the people,” he said. Having access to reliable monitoring tools to enforce clean-air requirements is also important, he said.

An experiment by American and Chinese university researchers over eight months in 2020 across China showed that public complaints about air-quality violations, on for example social-media platforms, were more effective in reducing a firm’s subsequent violations and emissions than private appeals. 

India launched a National Clean Air Program in 2019, but installed only 180 additional manual air-quality monitoring stations in the three years that followed, according to data compiled by CREA. The country currently has nearly 900 monitoring stations in total, which is still far less than the 1,500 India says it aims to install to achieve its goal of reducing air pollution by at least 20% by 2024. 

The Energy Policy Institute based its findings on an Air Quality Life Index developed by Greenstone and other researchers. The index is based on an estimation—extrapolated from a comparative study of the effects of air pollution on two groups in China—that long-term exposure to fine particulate matter at a concentration of 10 micrograms per cubic meter reduces a person’s lifespan by an average of one year. 

Some studies have shown prolonged exposure to that level of pollution has a lesser, but still significant, impact on life expectancy.

Besides premature death, sustained exposure to air pollution can lead to a variety of illnesses, including heart disease, lung cancer and diabetes, other studies have shown.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Polluted Air Shortens Human Lifespans More Than Tobacco, Study Finds

研究发现空气污染对人类寿命的影响超过烟草

From: The Wall Street Journal

Cigarette smoking and other uses of tobacco shave an average of 2.2 years off lifespans globally. But merely breathing—if the air is polluted—is more damaging to human health. 

吸烟和其他方式的烟草使用会使全球人类平均寿命缩短2.2年。但如果空气受到污染的话，仅仅是呼吸就会对人类健康造成比烟草更大的损害。

shave sth off sth表示“将…减少（一定量）”，英文解释为“to reduce something by the stated amount”举个🌰：The new high speed trains will shave 25 minutes off the journey time. 新的高速火车将使旅途的时间缩短25分钟。

lifespan /ˈlaɪf.spæn/ 表示“寿命;可持续年限，有效期”，英文解释为“the length of time for which a person, animal, or thing exists”举个🌰：The average human lifespan in the developed countries has increased over the last hundred years. 发达国家的人均寿命在过去的100年间延长了。

That is the conclusion of a report published Tuesday by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, which identified air pollution as the world’s top threat to public health, responsible for reducing average life expectancy by 2.3 years worldwide.  

这是芝加哥大学能源政策研究所（Energy Policy Institute）周二发表的一份报告得出的结论，该报告认为空气污染是全球公共卫生的头号威胁，会导致全球人均寿命缩短2.3年。

life expectancy表示“（尤指人的）预期寿命”，英文解释为“the length of time that a living thing, especially a human being, is likely to live”举个🌰：Life expectancy in Europe increased greatly in the 20th century. 欧洲人的预期寿命在20世纪大幅增长。

Between 2013 and 2021, the world’s second-largest economy improved overall air quality by more than 40% while the average lifespan of residents increased by more than two years, according to the report.

这份报告称，2013年到2021年的八年期间，中国这个全球第二大经济体的整体空气质量改善了40%以上，中国居民的平均寿命延长了两年多。

By contrast, four countries in South Asia—India, Bangladesh Nepal and Pakistan—accounted for more than half of the total years of life lost globally due to pollution in the atmosphere over the same eight years. India alone was responsible for nearly 60% of the growth in air pollution across the globe during that time. 

相比之下，印度、孟加拉国、尼泊尔和巴基斯坦这四个南亚国家在上述八年中因空气污染造成的寿命缩减时间占到全球整体寿命减少年数的一半以上。在此期间，全球空气污染的恶化情况有近60%都是由印度一国造成的。

表示“（在数量上）占”，英文解释为“to form the total of something”举个🌰：Students account for the vast majority of our customers. 我们的顾客绝大多数是学生。

If India were to meet World Health Organization guidelines for particulate pollution, the life expectancy for residents of capital city New Delhi would increase by 12 years.

如果印度空气中的颗粒物污染能达到世界卫生组织（World Health Organization, 简称WHO）的标准，那么印度首都新德里的居民预期寿命料可延长12年。

An increase in wildfires in places such as California and Canada has renewed attention on the dangers of polluted air. Around 350 cities globally suffer the same level of dangerous haze that enveloped New York City in June at least once a year, according to calculations from environmental think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which aggregates data from dozens of official government sources.  

美国加利福尼亚州和加拿大等地野火案例的增加再次引起了人们对空气污染危害的关注。根据环境问题智库能源与清洁空气研究中心（Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, 简称CREA）计算，全球约有350座城市每年至少会遭受一次危险程度与6月份笼罩纽约市那次相同的雾霾。该研究中心汇总来自众多官方政府渠道的数据。

1）表示“给…展期，延长…的期限；更新，更换”，英文解释为“to arrange for an agreement or official document to continue for a further period of time”举个🌰：I need to renew my passport this year. 今年我需要办理护照换发。

2）表示“重新开始”，英文解释为“to begin doing something again”举个🌰：She renewed her efforts to escape. 她再次企图逃跑。

🎬电影《傲慢与偏见》（Pride & Prejudice）中的台词提到：I shall not renew the sentiments which were so disgusting to you. 我不会再提起令你极度厌恶的感情。

haze /heɪz/ 表示“雾气，烟雾，霭，霾”，英文解释为“something such as heat or smoke in the air that makes it less clear, so that it is difficult to see well”举个🌰：The road through the desert shimmered in the haze. 穿越沙漠的道路透过雾气散发出微光。

envelop /ɪnˈvel.əp/ 表示“覆盖；包住；围绕；笼罩”，英文解释为“to cover or surround something completely”举个🌰：The graveyard looked ghostly, enveloped in mist. 墓地笼罩在薄雾中，显得阴森森的。

表示“智囊团；智库”，英文解释为“a group of experts brought together, usually by a government, to develop ideas on a particular subject and to make suggestions for action”

作名词，aggregate /ˈæɡ.rɪ.ɡət/ 表示“聚集体，集成体；总数，合计”，英文解释为“something formed by adding together several amounts or things”举个🌰：They purchased an aggregate of 1,000 shares in the company. 他们总共买了这家公司的1000股股票。

作动词，表示“集合；聚集；总计；合计”，英文解释为“to put together different items, amounts, etc. into a single group or total”举个🌰：The scores were aggregated with the first round totals to decide the winner. 此次得分与第一轮所得总分合计决出胜者。

How seriously a country takes the problem typically depends in part on public awareness, according to Michael Greenstone, an economics professor at the University of Chicago who contributed to the report. Knowledge of the health risks of poor air quality is low in many African and Asian countries, which suffer the worst outcomes. 

芝加哥大学（University of Chicago）经济学教授、参与撰写上述报告的Michael Greenstone表示，一个国家对空气污染问题有多重视通常一定程度上取决于公众意识。许多非洲和亚洲国家对糟糕空气质量带来的健康风险认识不足，而这些国家的空气质量最差。

“Air-pollution improvements are often driven by the demand of the people,” he said. Having access to reliable monitoring tools to enforce clean-air requirements is also important, he said.

Greenstone称：“空气污染的改善往往是由民众的需求推动的。”他说，获得可靠的监测工具以执行清洁空气要求也很重要。

reliable /rɪˈlaɪ.ə.bəl/ 表示“可信赖的；可靠的；真实可信的”，英文解释为“Someone or something that is reliable can be trusted or believed because he, she, or it works or behaves well in the way you expect.”举个🌰：Is your watch reliable? 你的表准吗？

表示“监视；检查；跟踪调查”，英文解释为“to watch and check sth over a period of time in order to see how it develops, so that you can make any necessary changes”举个🌰：Each student's progress is closely monitored. 每一位同学的学习情况都受到密切的关注。

enforce 表示“使服从（法律）；（强制）实行，执行，把…强加于”，英文解释为“to make people obey a law, or to make a particular situation happen or be accepted”举个🌰：The new teacher had failed to enforce any sort of discipline. 这位新教师一点都管不住学生，搞得纪律涣散。

An experiment by American and Chinese university researchers over eight months in 2020 across China showed that public complaints about air-quality violations, on for example social-media platforms, were more effective in reducing a firm’s subsequent violations and emissions than private appeals. 

美国和中国大学的研究人员2020年在中国各地进行了一项为期八个月的实验，结果表明，在社交媒体等平台上公开投诉空气质量违规行为，比私下申诉更能有效减少企业的后续违规行为和排放。

表示“随后的；后来的；之后的；接后的”，英文解释为“happening or coming after sth else”举个🌰：Subsequent events confirmed our doubts. 后来发生的事证实了我们的怀疑。

1）常见含义表示“对…有吸引力；对…有感染力；引起兴趣”，英文解释为“to interest or attract someone”举个🌰：It's a programme designed to appeal mainly to 16 to 25-year-olds. 这个节目的目标观众主要是16到25岁的年轻人。

2）表示“（尤指为寻求减轻处罚而向更高一级法院提出）上诉”，英文解释为“to request a higher court of law to consider again a decision made by a lower court, especially in order to reduce or prevent a punishment”

3）作名词，表示“（尤指为了改变法律或官方裁决而提出的）诉请，异议，申诉”，英文解释为“a request made to a court of law or to someone in authority to change a previous decision”举个🌰：The case went to the court of appeal/the appeal court. 案件被提交到上诉法院。

India launched a National Clean Air Program in 2019, but installed only 180 additional manual air-quality monitoring stations in the three years that followed, according to data compiled by CREA. The country currently has nearly 900 monitoring stations in total, which is still far less than the 1,500 India says it aims to install to achieve its goal of reducing air pollution by at least 20% by 2024. 

印度于2019年启动了国家清洁空气计划（National Clean Air Program），但根据CREA汇编的数据，在随后的三年里，印度仅增设了180个人工空气质量监测站。印度目前总共有近900个监测站，仍然远低于计划安装的数量；印度称，计划安装1,500个监测站，以实现到2024年空气污染至少降低20%的目标。

表示“汇编；编纂；编辑；编制”，英文解释为“to collect information from different places and arrange it in a book, report, or list”举个🌰：We're compiling some facts and figures for a documentary on the subject. 我们正在为一部有关这个主题的纪录片汇编资料。

The Energy Policy Institute based its findings on an Air Quality Life Index developed by Greenstone and other researchers. The index is based on an estimation—extrapolated from a comparative study of the effects of air pollution on two groups in China—that long-term exposure to fine particulate matter at a concentration of 10 micrograms per cubic meter reduces a person’s lifespan by an average of one year. 

芝加哥大学能源政策研究所的研究结果基于Greenstone和其他研究人员开发的空气质量生活指数（Air Quality Life Index）。该指数是根据一项空气污染对中国两组人群之影响的比较研究推测的估计，即长期暴露在浓度为每平方米10微克的细颗粒物中，人的寿命平均会缩短一年。

extrapolate /ɪkˈstræp.ə.leɪt/ 表示“推断；推知”，英文解释为“to guess or think about what might happen using information that is already known”举个🌰：You can't really extrapolate a trend from such a small sample. 你不能仅凭这样一件小小的样品就推断出潮流真正的发展趋势。

particulate /pɑːˈtɪk.jə.lət/ 表示“（尤指汽车发动机排出的引起严重污染的）微粒，颗粒”，英文解释为“an extremely small piece of dirt, especially one produced by road vehicles, that causes pollution”

📍PM2.5的PM就是Particulate Matter的缩写，中文常称为“细颗粒物”或“微小颗粒物”。它指的是大气中直径小于或等于2.5微米的颗粒物。

concentration除了表示我们平常熟悉的“专注、专心；关注、重视；集中、聚集”等，还可以表示“浓度”，英文解释为“the exact amount of one particular substance that is found in another substance”举个🌰：High concentrations of toxic elements were found in the polluted areas. 在被污染地区发现了高浓度的有毒元素。

cubic /ˈkjuː.bɪk/ 表示“（体积单位）立方的”，英文解释为“used in units of volume to show when the length of something has been multiplied by its width and height”

Some studies have shown prolonged exposure to that level of pollution has a lesser, but still significant, impact on life expectancy.

一些研究显示，长期暴露于这一污染水平对预期寿命的影响小一些，但仍很显著。

表示“延续很久的，长期的”，英文解释为“continuing for a long time”举个🌰：Prolonged use of the drug is known to have harmful side-effects. 据了解，长期服用此药会产生对人体有害的副作用。

Besides premature death, sustained exposure to air pollution can lead to a variety of illnesses, including heart disease, lung cancer and diabetes, other studies have shown.

其他研究表明，除了过早死亡外，持续暴露于空气污染中还会导致多种疾病，包括心脏病、肺癌和糖尿病。

表示“过早的；不成熟的；仓促的”，英文解释为“happening or done too soon, especially before the natural or suitable time”如：premature birth/death 早产/夭折。

1）表示“持续的，持久的”，英文解释为“continuing for a long time”举个🌰：His speech was greeted by sustained applause. 他的演讲博得了经久不息的掌声。

2）表示“坚定的，坚持不懈的”（determined），2020年政府工作报告Part 10中的例句：持续打造市场化、法治化、国际化营商环境 make sustained efforts to create a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment.

diabetes /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtɪs, -tiːz/ 表示“糖尿病”，英文解释为“a disease in which the body cannot control the level of sugar in the blood.”

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