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Vegetarian diet is healthier
素食更健康
The food that people eat is just as important as what kind of cars they drive when it comes to creating the greenhouse-gas emissions that many scientists have linked to global warming, according to a report accepted for publication in the April issue of the journal Earth Interactions.
《地球互動》雜志4月刊上發(fā)表的一篇報告文章指出，人們的飲食習(xí)慣與人們駕駛的汽車類型一樣，對于溫室氣體排放量有著重要影響。眾多科學(xué)家都已指出溫室氣體排放與全球變暖有著直接關(guān)系。
Both the burning of fossil fuels during food production and non-carbon dioxide emissions associated with livestock and animal waste contribute to the problem，the University of Chicago’s Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin wrote in the report.
芝加哥大學(xué)的Gidon Eshel和Pamela Martin在該報告中寫道,食品加工過程中的礦物燃料的燃燒和家畜及其他動物排泄物中的非二氧化碳化合物的排放加劇了全球變暖。
The average American diet requires the production of an extra ton and a half of carbon dioxide-equivalent, in the form of actual carbon dioxide as well as methane and other greenhouse gases compared to a strictly vegetarian diet, according to Eshel and Martin. And with Earth Day approaching on April 22, cutting down on just a few eggs or hamburgers each week is an easy way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, they said.
Eshel和Martin表示，傳統(tǒng)的美式飲食比素食排放出更多的包括二氧化碳、甲烷和其他溫室氣體在內(nèi)的二氧化碳等價物他們表示，隨著4月22日世界地球日的臨近,只要每周簡單地減少雞蛋或者漢堡的食用量就能為減少溫室氣體排放做出貢獻(xiàn)。
“We neither make a value judgment nor do we make a categorical statement” said Eshel，an Assistant Professor in Geophysical Sciences. “We say that however close you can be to a vegan diet and further from the mean American diet, the better you are for the planet. It doesn’t have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan. If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you’ve already made a substantial difference.”
“在此我們不是作出價值評判或者嚴(yán)厲指責(zé),”地球地理學(xué)院助 理研究員Eshel表示我們是說你的飲食習(xí)慣偏向素食并遠(yuǎn)離美國傳統(tǒng)飲食，將對環(huán)保作出巨大貢獻(xiàn)。你也許無法成為嚴(yán)格的素食者，但只要你每周將2個漢堡減為一個，就已經(jīng)是很大的改變了。”
The average American drives 8,322 miles by car annually, emitting 1,9 to 4.7 tons of carbon dioxide, depending on the vehicle model and fuel efficiency. Meanwhile, Americans also consume an average of 3,774 calories of food each day.
一個美國人平均每年駕車8322英里,考慮到汽車型號和耗油量的區(qū)別,大概會排放1.9到4.7噸二氧化碳。同時，美國人平均每天消耗3774卡路里的食物。
In 2002, energy used for food production accounted for 17 percent of all fossil fuel use in the United States. And the burning of these fossil fuels emitted three-quarters of a ton of carbon dioxide per person.
2002年，美國礦物燃料的17%用于食品生產(chǎn)。這些燃料的燃燒帶來了相當(dāng)于每人3/4噸的二氧化碳排放。
That alone amounts to approximately one-third the average greenhouse-gas emissions of personal transportation. But livestock production and associated animal waste also emit greenhouse gases not associated with fossil-fuel combustion, primarily methane and nitrous oxide.
這大概等于個人交通工具帶來的溫室氣體排放的1/3。但是畜牧業(yè)和相關(guān)的動物產(chǎn)業(yè)資源浪費也排放溫室氣體,主要包括甲烷和氮氧化物。
“An example would be manure lagoons that are associated with large-scale pork production,” Eshel said. “Those emit a lot of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere.”
Eshel表示大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)豬肉所需要的肥料湖就是一個典型的例子。它們釋放出大量氮氧化物到大氣層中。”
While methane and nitrous oxide are relatively rare compared with carbon dioxide, they are一 molecule for molecule-far more powerful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. A single pound of methane, for example，has the same greenhouse effect as approximately 50 pounds of carbon dioxide.
盡管甲烷和氮氧化物與二氧化碳相比排放量少得多，但是它們卻是比二氧化碳危害大得多的溫室氣體。例如，一磅甲烷造成的溫室效應(yīng)相當(dāng)于50膀二氧化碳造成的溫室效應(yīng)。
In their study, Eshel and Martin compared the energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions that underlie five diets: average American, red meat, fish, poultry and vegetarian (including eggs and dairy), all equaling 3,774 calories per day.
在他們的研究中，Eshel和Martin比較了 5種飲食結(jié)構(gòu)的能源消耗和溫室氣體排放情況,這5種飲食結(jié)構(gòu)分別為:美國人的平均飲食結(jié)構(gòu)、紅肉為主的飲食結(jié)構(gòu),海鮮魚類為主的飲食結(jié)構(gòu)、家禽為主的飲食結(jié)構(gòu)以及蛋奶型素食者的飲食結(jié)構(gòu),每種飲食結(jié)構(gòu)每天都消耗3774卡路里的熱量。
The vegetarian diet turned out to be the most energy-efficient, followed by poultry and the average American diet. Fish and red meat virtually tied as the least efficient.
研究結(jié)果表明蛋奶型素食者的飲食結(jié)構(gòu)是最具有能源節(jié)約價值的,其次是家禽為主的飲食結(jié)構(gòu)和美國人的平均飲食結(jié)構(gòu)。以海鮮魚類為主和以紅肉為主的飲食結(jié)構(gòu)是最缺乏效率的。
The impact of producing fish came as the study’s biggest surprise to Martin, an Assistant Professor in Geophysical Sciences. “Fish can be from one extreme to the other，” Martin said. Sardines and anchovies flourish near coastal areas and can be harvested with minimal energy expenditure. But swordfish and other large predatory species required energy-intensive long-distance voyages.
作為地球物理科學(xué)院的助理研究員,Martin對于漁業(yè)的研究結(jié)果很吃驚。他說捕撈不同種類的魚所消耗的能源大不相同。”捕撈在沿海地區(qū)產(chǎn)量豐富的沙丁魚和鳳尾魚只需要很小的能源消耗。但是捕撈旗魚和其他掠食性魚類則需要進(jìn)行能源消耗很大的長距離航海。
Martin and Eshel’s research Indicated that plant-based diets are healthier for people as well as for the planet.
Eshel和Martin的研究也證實,對生態(tài)環(huán)境有益的飲食對于人類同樣也更加健康。
