Falsehoods Follow Close Behind This Summer’s Natural Disasters 氣候陰謀論粉飾今夏天災

2023年11月2日星期四

Falsehoods Follow Close Behind This Summer’s Natural Disasters 氣候陰謀論粉飾今夏天災

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2023/11/03 第457期訂閱/退訂∣看歷史報份

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Falsehoods Follow Close Behind This Summer's Natural Disasters 氣候陰謀論粉飾今夏天災
Graft Continues to Be a Fight, and a Headache, for Ukraine 前方吃緊後方緊吃烏國忙掃貪

Falsehoods Follow Close Behind This Summer's Natural Disasters 氣候陰謀論粉飾今夏天災
文/Tiffany Hsu
譯/高詣軒氣候陰謀論粉飾今夏天災 As natural disasters and extreme environmental conditions became more commonplace around the world this summer, scientists pointed repeatedly to a shared driver: climate change. 今年夏季，隨著自然災害與極端環境狀況在全球各地變得更加舉目可見，科學家多次把矛頭指向一項共通因素：氣候變遷。 Conspiracy theorists pointed to anything but. 陰謀論者的指稱則不然。 Some claimed falsely that the record-smashing heat waves blistering parts of North America, Europe and Asia were normal and that they had been sensationalized as part of a globalist hoax. 有些陰謀論者誆稱，肆虐於北美、歐洲、亞洲部分地區的破紀錄熱浪為正常現象，並經由全球主義的騙局而被聳動呈現。 Others made up tales that cloud-seeding airplanes or a nearby dam, rather than torrential rains, had caused the unusually intense flooding in northern Italy (and in places like Vermont and Rwanda). 其他人則編造故事，宣稱造成義大利北部（以及美國佛蒙特州、盧安達等地）洪水異常猛烈的起因並非暴雨，而是人造雨飛機或當地鄰近的水壩。 The devastating wildfire on Maui last month produced especially ludicrous claims. Social media that racked up millions of views blamed the blaze on a "directed energy weapon" (the evidence: years-old footage not recorded in Hawaii). And as Florida braced last month for Hurricane Idalia, some people claimed incorrectly online that such storms are not affected by fossil fuel emissions. 上個月，夏威夷州茂宜島災難性野火所引發的說法尤為荒誕。累計數百萬點閱的社群媒體內容將大火歸咎於「導能武器」（其證據是：並非攝於夏威夷的陳年影片片段）。而佛州上個月迎戰颶風伊達利亞之際，部分人士在網路上，誤稱這類風暴並未受到化石燃料排放的影響。 The unfounded claims that now regularly follow natural disasters and dangerous weather, contradicting a preponderance of scientific evidence, can often seem frivolous and fantastical. They persist, however — attracting large audiences and frustrating climate experts, who say the world has little time to evade a global warming catastrophe. 如今這類空穴來風的說法，不時在天災和危險的天氣現象發生後緊跟著出現，可能往往看似不足為道、荒誕不經，與占優勢的科學證據相左。然而，它們持續存在，吸引大量的閱聽眾，並讓指出世界已快要來不及避免全球暖化災禍的氣候專家，感到力不從心。 "It's really one of the worst challenges we have to deal with," said Eleni Myrivili, chief heat officer for the United Nations human settlements program. 聯合國人類住區規劃署的高溫問題主管艾萊妮．米里維利表示：「它（陰謀論）確實是我們必須處理的一大艱鉅挑戰」。 After holding a similar role for the city of Athens, which was threatened by a ruinous spate of wildfires last month, Myrivili said climate misinformation was "one of the most painful things because it's like adding insult to injury." 米里維利曾在雅典市擔任類似職務，而該市上月曾受到毀滅性野火威脅。她表示，氣候相關假消息是「最令人痛苦的事物之一，因為這就像在傷口上施加侮辱」。 Scientists and other climate change experts are being besieged by personal attacks, including claims that they are shills for a globalist cabal or other shadowy forces, said Jennie King, head of climate research and policy at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank that studies online platforms. Eroding trust in experts traps everyone in an "antechamber of discussion," bickering about credibility rather than taking action. 研究網路平台的智庫「戰略對話研究所」氣候研究與政策主管珍妮．金恩表示，科學家和其他氣候變遷專家，正在受到人身攻擊圍攻，包括宣稱他們是暗樁，服膺於全球主義陰謀集團或其他隱密勢力。侵蝕對於專家的信任感，會使所有人困在「討論的前廳」，為了可信度爭論不休，而非採取行動。 "The danger is not that people hold unpalatable views in and of themselves," she said. "It's more our inability to have a good-faith conversation about these absolutely critical issues in the years ahead." 「危險並不在於人們本身抱持著令人不快的看法」，她說，「更重要的是我們無從就這些在未來數年至關重要的議題，進行良善的對話」。

Graft Continues to Be a Fight, and a Headache, for Ukraine 前方吃緊後方緊吃烏國忙掃貪
文/Andrew E. Kramer
譯/高詣軒前方吃緊後方緊吃烏國忙掃貪 The removal of Ukraine's minister of defense after a flurry of reports of graft and financial mismanagement in his department underscores a pivotal challenge for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wartime leadership: stamping out the corruption that had been widespread in Ukraine for years. 烏克蘭國防部接二連三傳出貪汙和財務管理不善後，部長遭到撤職，此事凸顯了總統澤倫斯基在戰時領導的一大關鍵挑戰：掃除烏克蘭多年來遍地橫行貪腐問題。 Official corruption was a topic that had been mostly taboo throughout the first year of the war, as Ukrainians rallied around their government in a fight for national survival. But Zelenskyy's announcement that he was replacing the defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, elevated the issue to the highest level of Ukrainian politics. 在俄烏戰爭的第一年，烏克蘭人集結在政府旗下為國家存亡奮戰，官員貪汙通常是禁忌話題，但澤倫斯基宣布撤換國防部長列茲尼科夫，將該議題提升到了烏克蘭政治的最高層級。 It comes at a pivotal moment in the war, as Ukraine prosecutes a counteroffensive in the country's south and east that relies heavily on Western allies for military assistance. These allies have, since the beginning of the war, pressured Zelenskyy's government to ensure that Ukrainian officials were not siphoning off some of the billions of dollars in aid that was flowing into Kyiv. 此時正逢戰事關鍵時刻，烏克蘭在該國南部和東部發動反攻，這項行動極度仰賴西方盟國的軍事援助。這些盟國自從戰爭開始就已向澤倫斯基政府施壓，要求確保烏國官員不會非法挪用流入基輔的數十億美元援助。 Zelenskyy has responded to the pressure from allies and criticism at home with a flurry of anti-corruption initiatives, not all of them welcomed by experts on government transparency. The most controversial has been a proposal to use martial law powers to punish corruption as treason. 面對盟國壓力和國內批評，澤倫斯基已透過連串反貪措施回應，但非全都獲政府透明度專家肯定。最具爭議的是一項提案，利用戒嚴法權力，以叛國罪懲治貪汙。 Reznikov has not been personally implicated in the allegations of mismanaged military contracts. But the widening investigations at his ministry posed a first significant challenge for the government on anti-corruption measures since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. 軍方合約管理不善的指控，列茲尼科夫本人並未受到牽連，但他的部會受到的調查持續擴大，成為俄國全面入侵以來，烏克蘭政府反貪措施的首項重大挑戰。 "The question here is, 'Where is the money?'" said Daria Kaleniuk, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center in Ukraine, a group dedicated to rooting out public graft that is now focused on war profiteering. 「烏克蘭反貪腐行動中心」主任達利亞．克雷紐克表示：「此處的問題是：『錢在哪裡？』」該組織致力根除公共貪腐，如今聚焦關注戰爭牟利行為。 "Corruption can kill," Kaleniuk said. "Depending on how effective we are in guarding the public funds, the soldier will either have a weapon or not have a weapon." 「貪汙足以害命」，克雷紐克表示，「軍人能否握有武器，取決於我們捍衛公共資金的成效」。 That high-level cases of corruption are coming to light is positive, said Andrii Borovyk, director of Transparency International in Ukraine, rather than an indication of a nation bogged down by insider dealing. It shows that the country can fight the war and graft at the same time, he said. 國際透明組織烏克蘭分部主任玻洛維克表示，高層級貪汙案件曝光是正向發展，而非顯示國家深陷於內線交易。他說，這展現出國家可一邊打仗，同時打擊貪汙。 "Scandals are good," he said. "The war," Borovyk added, "cannot be an excuse to stop fighting corruption." 「醜聞是好事」，玻洛維克補充說，「這場戰爭不能是停止對抗貪腐的藉口」。

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