2010年灾害频发，谁是罪魁祸首？

 

Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.

地震、热浪、洪灾、火山喷发、超强台风、暴风雪、山体滑坡和干旱这些在2010年频繁的灾害造成超过了25万人死亡，是30多年来死亡人数最多的一年。全球死于自然灾难的人数超过过去40年来死于恐怖主义袭击的人数的总和。

"It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.

美国联邦紧急事务管理局局长克雷格•富盖特说：“（灾难）像海浪般接踵而至。” 2010年该局处理的灾难数目突破了历史记录。

Even though many catastrophes have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and weird year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.

尽管很多灾难看起来是偶发事件，但是人类的行为使得今年的自然灾害频发，造成严重的后果。今年是死亡人数飙升、损失惨重、天气极端异常的一年。

Poor construction and development practices conspire to make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable buildings in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river breaches, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die.

低劣的建筑质量和大量的开发行为加大了地震的杀伤力。越来越多的人挤在城市的危房里，过着贫苦的生活。这意味着，一旦地震发生、河堤决口或者热浪来袭，会有更多的人死亡。

Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warming, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.

气象科学家说地球的气候也在发生变化。人为造成的全球变暖带来了极端的天气，使得热浪肆虐，洪水泛滥。