暖冬"立功" 歐洲溫室氣體排放量顯著減少
Significantly warmer winters have played an important role in the ongoing decline in EU greenhouse gas emissions.
暖冬對歐盟國家溫室氣體排放量的持續下降起到了顯著作用。According to a new report, the use of CO2 and other gases across the bloc dropped by almost a quarter between 1990 and 2014. A switch from coal to natural gas, the recession and the rise of renewable energy all contributed to the fall. The latest figures show that a milder winter was the major factor in the reduction.
根據一項最新報告顯示，歐盟國家二氧化碳及其他氣體的總排放量在1990年至2014年間下降了近四分之一。由煤炭轉用天然氣、經濟衰退以及可再生能源的興起都對這一下降起到了作用。而最新數據表明，一個更暖和的冬天是這一數據下降的最主要因素。
Overall from 1990 to 2014 emissions across the member states of the European Union fell by 24.4%, easily beating the 2020 target of 20% put forward as part of the first international agreement on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol.
總的來說，1990年至2014年期間，歐盟成員國的溫室氣體總排放量減少了24.4%，大大超過首個國際氣候變化協議“京都議定書”所定下的2020年減排20%的目標。
Importantly, the EU managed to reduce emissions in this period while economic output rose by 47%.
重要的是，歐盟是在經濟產量上升47%的同時成功降低了排放量。The keys to cutting warming emissions over the period have been a big switch from coal to gas for electricity production, the rise of renewable energy, better home insulation and the economic recession of 2008. But milder weather has contributed as well. In 2014, when emissions fell by 4.1%, it was the most important factor.
而這一時間溫室氣體排放量減少的關鍵在於：發電由使用煤炭轉向使用天然氣，可再生能源的興起，更優良的房屋絕緣以及2008年的經濟衰退。但是暖冬也起到了同樣重要的作用。2014年排放量下降的4.1%中，暖冬是最主要的因素。"If you look at the 24 year period, there is some warming in Europe and this has contributed to lower heat demand and lower greenhouse gas emissions," said Ricardo Fernandez from the European Environment Agency who compiled the figures. "In the last two years it has even been stronger - in 2014 you can see that, while its not the only factor, by and large it's due to the milder winter conditions in Europe."
負責收集這些數據的歐洲環境總署的裏卡多·費爾南德茲表示：“如果回顧這24年，你會發現歐洲氣候在變暖，而這減少了人們對暖氣的需求並降低了溫室氣體排放。過去兩年，減排效果更爲顯著，可以看出2014年的減排大致上是因爲歐洲冬天氣候趨暖所致。雖然這不是唯一的因素。”That mild, wet winter was felt particularly in Germany and the UK, and it is reductions in domestic heating demand in both those countries that accounts for just under half the decline across the 28 states that year.
德國和英國的冬天尤其令人覺得溫和、潮溼，而家庭暖氣需求的減少使這兩個國家的減排量佔歐盟28國近一半的總減排量。Overall though, over the past 24 years the UK and Germany have both been major movers in helping to reduce greenhouse gases - in that time UK emissions have dropped by by 34.3%.
總的來說，英國與德國是過去24年來歐盟減排的最大推動力，英國在這期間減排多達34.3%。
