緊迫的環境汙染問題（下）
Urgency: Environmental Pollution (II)
林巍
Lin Wei
在整個生態平衡系統中，各種存在與發展是相互依賴、相互制約的。例如，植物為動物提供所需要的氧氣和食物，同時吸取動物的排洩物為養料，使二者得以蓬勃發展。在動物之中，固然是弱肉強食，但其生存模式也抵消了弱者過分繁殖的危險，而弱者的相對迅速增長，又化解了被滅種的危險。在植物之中，從樹木到灌木，也都被有效地自然調節著——雷電擊下的森林大火，防止了樹木的過分茂盛，以至於剝奪小灌木的生機。
In our ecosystem, everything is interdependent. For example, plants provide oxygen and food to creatures and at the same time assimilate their excretions as nourishment, resulting in both flourishing. In the animal kingdom, the prevailing law of the jungle has prevented the weak from excessively propagating, while their remarkable breeding rate is immune against extinction. Similar natural laws are also ruled in the bush and shrubbery, where bushfires caused by thunderstorms may give room for groves to grow.
自從地球上出現了人類，就開始了翻天覆地的變化。人的思維最發達，有獨特的語言功能，可製造工具，這使他們處於食物鏈的最頂端。他們以前所未有的威力改變了地球，也破壞著它的平衡。以能源而言，煤炭、石油、天然氣等石化能源已成主導，而石化能源不可再生，若大規模地開發利用，必迅速消耗地球億萬年積存下的寶貴資源，同時破壞生態、汙染環境、毒化水質，威脅人類的可持續發展。中國的能源利用，目前仍以煤炭為主，而煤炭的燃燒對大氣汙染尤為嚴重，加之我國眼下在煤炭開發利用中具有效率低下、溫室氣體排放量大等特點，便加劇了問題的嚴重性。更有甚者，過分強調經濟增長、強調GDP，便難免要以犧牲生活的其他方面為代價。最近，一項由美國、以色列及中國科學家共同進行了二十餘年的研究表明，居住在中國淮河以北的五億人，因其冬天以煤炭取暖，故其平均壽命比南方人縮短5.5年。當然，對此準確性不免存有爭議，但就我的親身體會，又並非「空穴來風」。
Earth-shaking change has taken place since a species of animal called human appeared in this planet. With their superior intelligence, unique linguistic faculty and tool-making capacity, they climbed to the top of the food chain. Human beings have both altered the earth as well as disturbed its ecosystem in an unprecedented scale. As far as energy consumption is concerned, unrenewable fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas have become dominant energy in the world. Exploring fossil fuels, the treasure house of the earth accumulated over the past billions of years, in a massive and uncontrolled scale will surely damage the ecosystem, pollute the environment, contaminate the water and threaten the sustainable development of human society. In China, the dominant energy has so far been coal, which is one of the most severe air pollutants, exacerbated by China’s low-efficiency exploration and substantial greenhouse emission. Moreover, guided by an imbalanced view of development, the economy and GDP growth will be promoted inevitably at the expense of other aspects of quality life. A recent research conducted by researchers from the US, Israel and China over the past 20 years or so, suggests that the average lifespan of 500 million people living north of the Huaihe River is 5.5 years shorter than their compatriots in the south due to that the region burns coal to get heating in winter. While the accuracy of the study may still be in doubt, my personal experience tells me that it is definitely not fabricated out of nothing.
中國每年的總產值，約佔世界百分之十，卻消耗著世界上百分之四十以上的能源。中國這樣一個龐大體，其一呼一吸，地球是有感覺的。所以，特別是對於中國人來說，資源切不可浪費，因為1乘以13億，無論對資源的消耗還是對環境的破壞，都是一個巨大的數目。相反地，若每個中國人對環境做出一點貢獻，其正能量也是巨大的。
China’s gross annual value counts for 10 percent of world’s, but consumes more than 40 percent of the world’s resources. An economy as gigantic as China influences the whole world by its every pulse. Given the size of its 1.3 billion population, the Chinese in particular are the least able to afford any waste of resources, which will have significant impact on energy consumption and environment of the globe. Correspondingly, every effort made by the Chinese in protecting the environment will produce enormous positive effects as well.
然而，人類畢竟是自然界的一部分。在整個生態系統中，我們應真正體現出「天人合一」整體觀的傳統智慧。須知，規律是不可違反的，否則就要受懲罰。正如恩格斯所說，人類向大自然的每一次索取，都得到了應有的報復。中國諺語也說，「不是不報，時候未到」。我們現在面對的汙染，正是我們長此以往索取的報應，而其嚴重與持續程度，亦與索取成正比。
Human beings are after all part of natural world where laws reign indiscriminatingly, and nature has retaliated every profit we gained from it, as Engels put it. The traditional Chinese view of 「man is an integral part of nature」 should truly be valued. In Chinese, in fact, there is also a saying, 「Good and evil in the end will be recompensed; it is a question of sooner or later」. We are reaping pollution in proportion to what we have sowed.
生產不是為了生活更美好嗎？如果不是，又是為了什麼？誠如《聖經》所講，賺得了全世界，而毀掉了自己，又有什麼意義？所以，對於「發展是硬道理」要有更全面、科學的理解。簡言之，只有良性、平衡、有益於人們生活的發展才是硬道理。
Should the purpose of our development be for a better life? If not, what is it for? As the Bible says, 「Isn’t that meaningless to have made profits of the world and ruined yourself at the same time?」 The popular phrase of 「Development is of overriding importance」 should therefore be understood more comprehensively and scientifically – development that is well balanced and beneficial to people’s wellbeing should be deemed as of overriding importance.
（林巍 譯）
【雙語】林巍·《緊迫的環境汙染問題（上）》