Warmer seas present specific dangers, both to human and?marine?life:?melting ice sheets; sea level rises (because water expands when heated); coral bleaching; more?intense?storms;?lower?oxygen levels causing fish to die. But they are also an?indication?of the?overall?pressure that?global?heating is placing on nature. The Earth’s?capacity?to stabilise the amounts of energy entering and leaving the planet’s system is reaching its limits for?current?patterns of existence.

海洋變暖對人類和海洋生物都帶來了具體的危險：冰蓋融化；海平面上升(因為水受熱膨脹)；珊瑚白化。更猛烈的風暴；低氧水平導致魚類死亡。但它們也表明了全球變暖給大自然帶來的整體壓力。地球把進入和離開地球系統(tǒng)的能量穩(wěn)定下來的能力已經(jīng)達到了目前生存模式的極限。

For many of those focused on what is happening – including activists, scientists and politicians – the inadequacy of national and international?responses to the emergency is disorienting as well as disturbing.?Despite?decades of?pledges made under the auspices of the UN’s climate process,?global?emissions are at an all-time high. It is hard to fathom what further evidence is needed to persuade governments that a?drastic?change of course is the safest?option.

對于包括活動家、科學家和政治家在內的許多關注正在發(fā)生的事情的人來說，國家和國際對緊急情況的反應不足不僅令人不安，而且令人困惑。盡管幾十年來在聯(lián)合國氣候進程的支持下做出了承諾，但全球排放量仍處于歷史最高水平。很難想象還需要什么進一步的證據(jù)才能說服各國政府，徹底改變路線是最安全的選擇。

But it is clear that the countries and businesses that are most strongly reliant on?fossil-fuel profits will not willingly give them up. Whether and how they can be convinced or?compelled to do so is the existential question of our times. Last weekend the G20 bloc of nations – which produce 75% of?global?greenhouse?gas emissions – failed to reach agreement on phasing down?fossil?fuels. This November’s round of UN talks, Cop28, is being held in the United Arab Emirates and led by Sultan Al Jaber, who also heads his country’s national oil company. As forests burn and the sea turns green, the?necessity?of?confronting vested interests – including energy-intensive?western-type lifestyles as well as the corporations that depend on?fossil?fuels for profits – becomes more?desperate?by the day.

但很明顯，最依賴化石燃料利潤的國家和企業(yè)不會心甘情愿地放棄化石燃料。是否以及如何說服或迫使他們這樣做，是我們這個時代存在的問題。上周末，占全球溫室氣體排放量75%的20國集團未能就逐步減少化石燃料達成協(xié)議。今年11月的第28屆聯(lián)合國氣候變化大會將在阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國舉行，由蘇丹賈比爾主持，他也是阿聯(lián)酋國家石油公司的負責人。隨著森林燃燒，海洋變綠，對抗既得利益——包括能源密集型的西方式生活方式以及依賴化石燃料盈利的公司——的必要性日益迫切。