空氣汙染已經成為一個全球化的問題，許多高度工業化現代化的大城市都面臨著嚴重的空氣汙染，人們的健康和生命因此受到威脅。大多數地區已經意識到空氣汙染的嚴重性，並積極採取措施降低汙染排放，淨化空氣品質，下面來看看不同國家和城市的做法吧。
A traffic officer directs a driver at a toll station in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, on Monday after the freeway linking Beijing and Hong Kong was partially closed due to heavy smog. ZHAI YUJIA/CHINANEWS SERVICE倫敦：推出空氣品質警報系統
When a thick cloud of air pollution settled in over London last week, experts warned those with health problems to avoid strenuous exercise. The advice to Londoners essentially boiled down to this: breathe less.
上周，當倫敦籠罩在汙染嚴重的空氣中時，專家警告存在健康問題的人應避免劇烈運動。倫敦人得到的忠告基本上可歸結為：少呼吸。
Last week, London mayor Sadiq Khan rolled out a new system of air quality alerts at bus stops, Tube stations and roadsides, warning those who experience symptoms from air pollution to reduce strenuous activity. The mayor also announced a doubling of funding for reducing pollution.
上周，倫敦市市長薩迪克•汗推出了新的空氣品質警報系統，該系統可在公交車站、地鐵站和道路旁警告因空氣汙染出現病症的人們減少劇烈運動。他還宣布將用於減少汙染的資金增加一倍。
But he does not have the legal authority to institute a ban, and has demanded the government take urgent action, including a diesel scrappage scheme.
但他沒有制定一項禁令的法律權力，他已經要求政府採取緊急行動，其中包括柴油車報廢計劃。
Cities around the world are confronting problems similar to London's. Some have been more aggressive than others, but overall, their experience shows that concerted steps to improve air quality do work, and they save lives.
世界各地的城市都面臨著與倫敦類似的問題。有些城市表現的比其他地區更激進，但總體而言，他們的經驗表明，改善空氣品質的聯合措施有所見效，拯救了生命。
巴黎：公交免費，車輛單雙號限行
Meanwhile, as Paris suffered a similar pollution episode - its worst in a decade - officials swung into action, waiving charges for public transport and restricting the number of cars allowed on roads, alternately barring those with odd and even license plates.
與此同時，巴黎也遭遇了近十年來最嚴重的類似空氣汙染，政府立即採取行動，取消了公共運輸收費，採取單雙號限行制度限制在道路上通行的車輛數量。
At the same time Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo joined officials from Madrid, Athens and Mexico City in announcing plans to get all diesel vehicles off the roads by 2025.
同時，巴黎市市長安娜-伊達爾戈與馬德裡、雅典以及墨西哥城的官員共同宣布，計劃在2025年前禁止所有柴油車上路。
Diesel is highly polluting, emitting far greater amounts of dangerous nitrogen dioxide and tiny pollution particles than petrol, and can cause cancer to heart attacks.
柴油汙染十分嚴重，其有害二氧化氮及細微汙染顆粒的排放量比汽油更大，並可能導致癌症、心臟病。
Despite the health damage it wreaks, governments across Europe, including Britain's, have offered motorists tax incentives that effectively encourage the use of diesel, on the assumption – now being questioned - that it produces less planet-warming carbon dioxide than petrol.
儘管燃燒柴油會損害健康，但是基於柴油產生的溫室氣體二氧化碳比汽油更少這一假設，歐洲各國政府，包括英國，還是向司機提供稅收優惠政策，以有效鼓勵他們使用柴油。如今，這一假設遭到了質疑。
柏林：部分車輛安裝汙染過濾裝置
Berlin is a notable exception to the story of the diesel disaster gripping much of western Europe. It has cleaned up its own fleet, installing pollution filters on buses and garbage trucks, and imposed tough rules on heavy goods vehicles. A strict emission zone bars older diesel vehicles, and rates of car use, which are already among the lowest in Germany, have dropped even further in recent years. Public transport is efficient and easy to use, with a two-hour pass costing just €2.70 (£2.25).
大部分西歐國家都受到了柴油災難的影響，而柏林卻是它們之中明顯的例外。柏林已經整頓了該市的車輛，在公交車和垃圾車上安裝了汙染過濾裝置，並對重型貨車實施嚴格的規定。該市有一個限制老式柴油車和汽車使用率的限制排放區，這裡已經是德國汽車使用率最低的地區之一，近年來使用率還在進一步降低。公共運輸高效且便利，兩個小時的通行成本只要2.7歐元。
As a result, levels of the tiniest, most dangerous particles, known as ultrafines, fell 70% in just three years, says Axel Friedrich, former head of transport and noise at the federal environmental agency, and an adviser to government and advocacy groups.
聯邦環境局交通及噪聲部前負責人兼政府和遊說組織顧問阿克賽爾•弗萊德裡奇表示，在短短三年內，超微粒子的水平因此下降了70%，這是一種最細小最危險的汙染粒子。
波蘭克拉科夫：推進燃煤取暖禁令
Kraków has the worst air in Poland - one of Europe's most polluted countries.
克拉科夫是波蘭空氣最差的地方，而波蘭是歐洲汙染最嚴重的國家之一。
After a long legal fight, the city is now moving forward with a ban on burning coal for home heating, to take effect in September 2019.
經過長時間的法律鬥爭，該市目前正在推進燃煤取暖禁令，將於2019年9月生效。
紐約：改進供熱系統
New York has also targeted heating systems. After an analysis found that 1% of buildings burning the dirtiest kinds of fuel oil, were producing more soot than all the city's traffic, officials made plans to gradually ban their use and to help landlords convert.
紐約也瞄準了供熱系統。一項分析發現，有1%的建築燃燒的是最不清潔的燃油，其產生的煙塵比全市的交通系統更多。紐約市官員們計劃逐步禁止使用這種燃油，並幫助房主改建取暖系統。
The changeover is already credited with saving hundreds of lives each year. It's just one piece of New York's air quality strategy, which also aims at slashing greenhouse gas emissions 80% from 2005 levels by 2050, says Mark Chambers, director of the mayor's Office of Sustainability.
這種轉變每年已經挽救了數百人的生命。市長環保辦公室主任馬克•錢伯斯稱，這只是紐約空氣品質戰略的一個部分，該市的戰略目標是與2005年相比，2050年前將溫室氣體排放水平削減80%。
洛杉磯：終於可以看到洛杉磯的山脈了！
Los Angeles, the city where American car culture reached its zenith, has also pushed hard to clean up its air.
洛杉磯是美國汽車文化最發達的城市，該市也在努力淨化空氣。
"We've made incredible progress, we can see the mountains in Los Angeles, when those of us who grew up here never could when we were young," says Joe Lyou, president of California's Coalition for Clean Air.
加利福尼亞清潔空氣聯盟主席Joe Lyou稱，「我們已經取得了驚人的進步，我們可以看到洛杉磯的山脈，對於在洛杉磯長大的我們來說，在我們小時候這是絕對不可能的。」
The dramatic improvement is the result of the most stringent air quality regulation in America. A statewide crackdown on dirty diesel lorries and a push to expand use of zero-emission vehicles are also a big part of the story.
這一巨大的改進是美國最嚴空氣品質監管帶來的結果。另外一個重要原因是在全國範圍內強制取締不清潔的柴油卡車以及擴大零排放車輛的使用。
In addition to the decades of regulation that have made American cars 99% cleaner than they were 40 years ago, cities like New York and LA have benefitted from American motorists' distaste for diesel, which accounts for only about 2% of cars in the US.
數十年的監管讓美國的車輛比40年前清潔程度提升了99%，此外，紐約、洛杉磯等城市還因為機動車駕駛者不喜歡柴油而受益，使用柴油的機動車的數量大約只佔美國車輛的2%。
北京：車輛限行，投資可再生能源
Beijing has used license plate restrictions to limit the number of cars and set out plans to keep the oldest and most polluting vehicles off roads when air is especially bad. More importantly, the government has harnessed public anger over pollution to plough billions of dollars into wind and solar power, becoming the world's biggest investor in renewable energy. Officials have even begun cancelling plans for new coal-fired power stations - a move with repercussions for the health of those living in Chinese cities, and for the planet.
北京通過車牌限制來限定汽車數量，並在空氣特別糟糕的時候制定計劃限制最古老和汙染最嚴重的車輛上路。更重要的是，由於公眾對汙染的憤怒，中國政府已經將數十億美元用於風能和太陽能建設，成為世界上最大的可再生能源投資國。政府官員甚至開始取消新建燃煤電站的計劃，這會對中國和世界人民的健康帶來影響。
德裡：學校停課，關閉電廠
Last month, Delhi's 20 million people suffered through the worst smog episode in 17 years, according to the Centre for Science and Environment. Officials temporarily shuttered a coal-fired power plant, halted all construction and demolition work and shut down many diesel power generators.
根據科學與環境中心的數據，上個月，德裡市的2000萬居民經歷了17年來最嚴重的霧霾事件。政府官員暫時關閉了一家燃煤電廠，停止所有建設和拆除工作，並關掉了許多柴油發電機。
In a sign that Delhi has begun to acknowledge the problem, officials also closed 1,800 schools for three days, as particulate levels soared to 28 times the recommended maximums.
德裡已經開始認識到空氣汙染問題的跡象是，因為顆粒物質的水平飆升至推薦最大值的28倍，政府還讓1800所學校關閉三天。
英文來源：衛報
翻譯：董靜
編審：yaning