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Beijing’s Air Would Be Step Up for Smoggy Delhi
印度空气污染甚于北京，并未引起重视
NEW DELHI — In mid-January, air pollution in Beijing was so bad that the government issued urgent health warnings and closed four major highways, prompting the panicked buying of air filters and donning of face masks. But in New Delhi, where pea-soup smog created what was by some measurements even more dangerous air, there were few signs of alarm in the country’s boisterous news media, or on its effervescent Twittersphere.
新德里——1月中旬，北京的空气污染极为严重，导致政府发布紧急健康预警，关闭了四条主要的高速公路，并在民众中引发了抢购空气净化器及戴口罩的风潮。然而在新德里，尽管一些估算认为，这里浓密的黄色烟雾带来了比北京更为有害的空气，但在该国喧嚣嘈杂的媒体圈和Twitter圈里，却难觅警告的踪影。
Despite Beijing’s widespread reputation of having some of the most polluted air of any major city in the world, an examination of daily pollution figures collected from both cities suggests that New Delhi’s air is more laden with dangerous small particles of pollution, more often, than Beijing’s. Lately, a very bad air day in Beijing is about an average one in New Delhi.
虽然北京拥有在世界大城市中空气污染程度位居前列的名声，然而，分析从北京和新德里搜集的日常污染数据后，可以看出，后者的大气中含有更多危险的细颗粒物，而且发作频率也超越了前者。最近这段时间，在北京算得上极度糟糕的状况，在新德里仅为稀松平常。
The United States Embassy in Beijing sent out warnings in mid-January, when a measure of harmful fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 went above 500, in the upper reaches of the measurement scale, for the first time this year. This refers to particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, which is believed to pose the greatest health risk because it penetrates deeply into lungs.
本月中旬，美国驻华大使馆发出了警告，因为名为PM2.5的有害细颗粒物的读数今年以来首次“爆表”，超过了500的测量范围上限。PM2.5指的是直径小于2.5微米的颗粒物质，由于能深入到肺部，被认为具有最大的健康风险。
But for the first three weeks of this year, New Delhi’s average daily peak reading of fine particulate matter from Punjabi Bagh, a monitor whose readings are often below those of other city and independent monitors, was 473, more than twice as high as the average of 227 in Beijing. By the time pollution breached 500 in Beijing for the first time on the night of Jan. 15, Delhi had already had eight such days. Indeed, only once in three weeks did New Delhi’s daily peak value of fine particles fall below 300, a level more than 12 times the exposure limit recommended by the World Health Organization.
不过，今年头三周，新德里的细颗粒物平均日峰值达473，是北京的均值227的两倍多。新德里的数据来自旁遮普巴格监测站，其读数往往低于别的市政及独立机构的数据。1月15日晚，北京的PM2.5污染今年首次爆表，而此时德里已经连续八天如此了。实际上，这三周里，新德里的细颗粒物日峰值仅有一天低于300，也就是世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)推荐的暴露值的12倍。
“It’s always puzzled me that the focus is always on China and not India,” said Dr. Angel Hsu, director of the environmental performance measurement program at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. “China has realized that it can’t hide behind its usual opacity, whereas India gets no pressure to release better data. So there simply isn’t good public data on India like there is for China.”
“焦点总是放在中国而不是印度身上，这一点总是让我很困惑，”耶鲁环境法与政策中心(Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy)的环境表现评价项目主管徐安琪博士(Angel Hsu)说。“中国已经意识到不能躲藏到惯常的不透明做法背后，而印度则还完全没有受到完善数据公布的压力。因此，印度根本没有像中国那样的良好的公开数据。”
Experts have long known that India’s air is among the worst in the world. A recent analysis by Yale researchers found that seven of the 10 countries with the worst air pollution exposures are in South Asia. And evidence is mounting that Indians pay a higher price for air pollution than almost anyone. A recent study showed that Indians have the world’s weakest lungs, with far less capacity than Chinese lungs. Researchers are beginning to suspect that India’s unusual mix of polluted air, poor sanitation and contaminated water may make the country among the most dangerous in the world for lungs.
专家们早已知晓，印度是空气质量最糟糕的国家之一。耶鲁学者最近分析发现，全世界空气污染暴露最严重的10个国家中，南亚占了7个。还有越来越多的证据表明，印度人为空气污染付出的代价几乎无人能及。近期的一项研究显示，印度人的肺功能为全球最差，远不及中国人。研究者们还开始怀疑，印度的污染空气、不良卫生状况及不洁水源形成了非比寻常的组合，它们或许造就出了全球最不利于肺部健康的国家之一。
India has the world’s highest death rate because of chronic respiratory diseases, and it has more deaths from asthma than any other nation, according to the World Health Organization. A recent study found that half of all visits to doctors in India are for respiratory problems, according to Sundeep Salvi, director of the Chest Research Foundation in Pune.
根据世界卫生组织的数据，印度的慢性呼吸道疾病导致的死亡率为全球第一，而且死于哮喘的人数也高于其他各国。浦那胸科研究基金会(Chest Research Foundation)的主任桑蒂普·萨尔维(Sundeep Salvi)表示，近期的一项研究发现，印度一半的门诊病例与呼吸道疾病有关。
Clean Air Asia, an advocacy group, found that another common measure of pollution known as PM10, for particulate matter less than 10 micrometers in diameter, averaged 117 in Beijing in a six-month period in 2011. In New Delhi, the Center for Science and Environment used government data and found that an average measure of PM10 in 2011 was 281, nearly two-and-a-half times higher.
环保组织亚洲城市清洁空气行动中心(Clean Air Asia)发现，2011年的6个月里，北京的PM10均值为117。PM10是另一项常用的污染指数，代表的是直径小于10微米的颗粒物。在新德里，科学与环境中心(Center for Science and Environment)采用政府公布的数据计算出，2011年的PM10均值为281，比北京高了近2.5倍。
Perhaps most worrisome, Delhi’s peak daily fine particle pollution levels are 44 percent higher this year than they were last year, when they averaged 328 over the first three weeks of the year. Fine particle pollution has been strongly linked with premature death, heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. In October, the World Health Organization declared that it caused lung cancer.
也许最令人担忧的是，新德里今年的细颗粒物污染日峰值比去年高44%。2013年头三周的均值是328。颗粒物污染与早逝、心肌梗死、脑卒中及心脏衰竭密切相关。去年10月，世界卫生组织宣布，颗粒物污染可导致肺癌。
The United States Embassy in Beijing posts on Twitter the readings of its air monitor, helping to spur awareness of the problem. The readings have more than 35,000 followers. The United States does not release similar readings from its New Delhi Embassy, saying the Indian government releases its own figures.
美国驻北京的大使馆在Twitter上公布自己的空气监测读数，帮助提高了在这个问题上的公众意识。该账号有逾3.5万名关注者。美国驻新德里的大使馆则没有发布类似数据，称印度政府自己在公布。
In China, concerns about air quality have transfixed many urban residents, and some government officials say curbing the pollution is a priority.
在中国，很多市民对空气质量忧心忡忡，一些政府官员表示，遏制污染是当务之急。
But in India, Delhi’s newly elected regional government did not mention air pollution among its 18 priorities, and India’s environment minister quit in December amid widespread criticism that she was delaying crucial industrial projects. Her replacement, the government’s petroleum minister, almost immediately approved several projects that could add considerably to pollution. India and China strenuously resisted pollution limits in global climate talks in Warsaw in November.
而在印度，新德里新当选的邦政府列出了18个优先事项，其中没有提及空气污染；印度环境部长由于受到广泛批评，说她延误了重大工业项目，已于去年12月辞职。接任她的原石油部长几乎立刻就批准了几个可能会大幅增加污染的项目。去年11月，在华沙举行的全球气候谈判中，印度和中国极力抵制对污染加以限制。
Frank Hammes, chief executive of IQAir, a Swiss-based maker of air filters, said his company’s sales were hundreds of times higher in China than in India.
瑞士的空气过滤器生产商爱客公司(IQAir)首席执行官弗兰克·哈姆斯(Frank Hammes)表示，该公司在中国的销售额比在印度高几百倍。
“In China, people are extremely concerned about the air, especially around small children,” Mr. Hammes said. “Why there’s not the same concern in India is puzzling.”
“在中国，人们非常关心空气质量，尤其是经常跟小孩子接触的人，”哈姆斯说。“印度人为什么没有这样的担心真是令人费解。”
In multiple interviews, Delhiites expressed a mixture of unawareness and despair about the city’s pollution levels. “I don’t think pollution is a major concern for Delhi,” said Akanksha Singh, a 20-year-old engineering student who lives on Delhi’s outskirts in Ghaziabad, adding that he felt that Delhi’s pollution problems were not nearly as bad as those of surrounding towns.
在多个采访中，新德里人对于该城的污染程度要么表现得缺乏意识，要么感到绝望。“我不认为污染是新德里的主要问题之一，”20岁的阿康克沙·辛格(Akanksha Singh)说。他是工程专业的学生，住在新德里郊区的加济阿巴德。他还认为新德里的污染问题没有周边城镇那样严重。
In 1998, India’s Supreme Court ordered that Delhi’s taxis, three-wheelers and buses be converted to compressed natural gas, but the resulting improvements in air quality were short-lived as cars flooded the roads. In the 1970s, Delhi had about 800,000 vehicles; now it has 7.5 million, with 1,400 more added daily.
1998年，印度最高法院下令让新德里的出租车、三轮车和公交车改用压缩天然气，但此举对空气质量的改善效果相当短暂，因为道路上的车流量出现了猛增。在20世纪70年代，新德里大约有80万辆机动车，现在则有750万辆，而且在以每天1400辆的速度增加。
“Now the air is far worse than it ever was,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director of the Center for Science and Environment.
“现在的空气质量远远不如从前。”科学与环境中心的执行主管阿努米塔·罗伊·乔杜里(Anumita Roy Chowdhury)说。
Indians’ relatively poor lung function has long been recognized, but researchers assumed for years that the difference was genetic.
人们早就发现，印度人的肺功能相对较差，但多年以来，研究人员都认为这种差异是遗传造成的。
Then a 2010 study found that the children of Indian immigrants who were born and raised in the United States had far better lung function than those born and raised in India.
而2010年的一项研究发现，在美国出生成长的印度移民孩子的肺功能远远好于印度本土的孩子。
“It’s not genetics; it’s mostly the environment,” said Dr. MyLinh Duong, an assistant professor of respirology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
“这不是遗传造成的，主要是环境造成的。”加拿大安大略省哈密尔顿的麦克马斯特大学(McMaster University)呼吸系统学助理教授麦林·杜恩(MyLinh Duong)说。
In a study published in October, Dr. Duong compared lung tests taken in 38,517 healthy nonsmokers from 17 countries who were matched by height, age and sex. Indians’ lung function was by far the lowest among those tested.
在去年10月发表的一项研究中，杜恩博士比较了38517名不吸烟的健康人的肺部测试结果。这些人来自17个国家，在身高、年龄和性别上存在可比性。在他们之中，印度人的肺功能是最差的。
All of this has led some wealthy Indians to consider leaving.
鉴于这些情况，一些富裕的印度人在考虑出国。
Annat Jain, a private equity investor who returned to India in 2001 after spending 12 years in the United States, said his father died last year of heart failure worsened by breathing problems. Now his 4-year-old daughter must be given twice-daily breathing treatments.
私募基金投资者阿纳特·简恩(Annat Jain)在美国生活12年后，于2001年返回印度。他说他父亲的病情因呼吸困难而加剧，去年死于心脏衰竭。现在，他4岁的女儿每天必须接受两次呼吸治疗。
“But whenever we leave the country, everyone goes back to breathing normally,” he said. “It’s something my wife and I talk about constantly.”
“但是，只要我们一出国，呼吸就变得正常了，”他说。“我和妻子经常谈起这件事。”
编译来自：http://qqenglish.com/bn/3439.htm 感谢编译辛苦！ |
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