專家警告稱氣候變化將成21世紀最大健康威脅

Climate change is already harming millions of people around the world and will become the biggest health threat of the 21st century, experts have warned.

有關專家日前警告稱，氣候變化已對全球數百萬人口構成傷害，並將成爲21世紀最大的健康威脅。

Heatwaves are becoming More frequent as global temperatures rise, disease-carrying mosquitoes are increasing their range and crops are failing as the world warms up, according to a major report in the Lancet medical journal.

據醫學期刊《柳葉刀》發表的一篇重要報告稱，隨着全球變暖，熱浪會更加頻繁，而氣溫上升，也會使攜帶疾病的蚊子活動範圍擴大，農作物歉收。

The 50-page report, written by 26 organisations including University College London and the Royal College of Physicians, chronicles the impact of environment patterns on human health.

這份50頁的報告由包括英國倫敦大學學院和英國皇家內科醫學會在內的26個組織撰寫而成，報告裏記錄了環境對人類健康的影響。

For Britain, climate change is not yet having a big impact – even though heatwaves are linked to the deaths of up to 3,000 people a year.

對英國來說，氣候變化尚未產生重大影響--儘管每年因熱浪死亡的人數達到了3000人。

But for the rest of the world climate change is already having a big effect on human health, the researchers said.

研究人員表示，但對於全球其他國家來說，氣候變化已對人類健康產生了重大影響。

The world has seen a 46 per cent global increase in weather-related disasters since 2000, they calculated. Heatwaves are a particular problem, hitting an additional 125 million elderly people in the past 16 years as they increased in frequency.

他們估算出，自2000年以來，全球範圍內與天氣有關的災害增加了46%。熱浪問題尤爲嚴重，過去16年，隨着熱浪變得日益頻繁，有1.25億老年人受到影響。

Transmission of dengue fever has increased 10 per cent since the 1950s, as mosquitoes have been able to increase their range due to warming temperatures.

自上世紀50年代以來，登革熱的傳播率增加了10%，這是因爲由於氣溫上升，蚊子的活動範圍變大。

Professor Hugh Montgomery, of University College London, said: 'This is the major health threat of the 21st century. We are only just beginning to feel the impacts of climate change.'

倫敦大學學院的休·蒙哥馬利教授說：“這是21世紀的主要健康威脅。我們纔剛剛開始感受到氣候變化的影響。”