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Carbon dioxide, methane and other gases trap some of this energy, which makes the earth warm and habitable. The atmosphere of the earth serves as a kind of greenhouse which uses some of the heat from the sun to warm the planet. It also makes it possible for there to be life on earth. The remainder of the solar energy bounces back into space.
二氧化碳、甲烷和其他氣體會封鎖其中的一些能量，使地球變暖，適合人類居住。地球的大氣像一個溫室，能吸收太陽的一些熱量，使地球變暖。這也使得地球上生命的存在成為可能。剩下的太陽能被反射回太空。
Thus, there has been the right amount of heat to sustain life as we have known it.
這樣，正如我們所知道的那樣，地球上就有了適量的熱量來維系生命。
However, the Industrial Revolution, which saw the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) in huge and ever-growing quantities, has been responsible for changing this delicate balance. When burned—in factories, houses, automobiles, generating stations, etc.—fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide (CO2) and certain other gases into the atmosphere. These, in turn, trap more solar energy. Over a period of time, the accumulated CO2 has been sufficient to cause serious warming of the planet, upsetting the balance.
然而，工業(yè)革命后人們開始越來越大量地使用化石燃料（煤、石油和天然氣），打破了這種微妙的平衡。化石燃料在工廠、房屋、汽車和電站等地燃燒時，會把二氧化碳和某些其他氣體排放到大氣中。而這些氣體則會留住更多的太陽能。經(jīng)過一段時間，累積的二氧化碳就足以使全球氣候嚴(yán)重變暖，擾亂氣候平衡。
The damage was not immediate. It took time for the gases to accumulate to a harmful extent, but for the last 60 or 70 years, the trend toward global warming was becoming apparent. However, in the last 2 decades, the speed of change has increased dramatically, and is continuing to change even more rapidly.
危害不會立即發(fā)生，氣體需要經(jīng)過一段時間才能積累到有害程度。但是，在過去的六七十年間，全球變暖的趨勢越來越明顯。然而，在最近的20年間，這種變化速度急劇加快，甚至還在繼續(xù)加快。
