不生孩子能拯救地球，你愿意嗎？

一項研究表明，如果你真的想拯救地球的話，最好的方式之一是不生孩子。瑞典隆德大學的研究人員發現，四種人類行為可以大幅降低個人碳排放量，即：吃素食，不坐飛機，不開車，縮小家庭規模。“如果一個美國家庭少要一個孩子，其效果相當于讓684位不回收利用廢品的年輕人在余生都堅持回收利用所達到的減排效果。”

廢品回收利用，用30°C的水洗衣服，改用節能燈泡，這些都被標榜為保護環境的行為方式。

然而一項研究表明，如果你真的想拯救地球的話，最好的方式之一是不生孩子。

研究人員表示，生孩子無疑是對環境最具破壞力的行為。

By not having a child, the carbon footprint of an individual living in a developed country would be reduced on average by an extra 58.6 tons of carbon dioxide every year, based on current emission rates.
按照現在的排放速率，每少生一個孩子，發達國家每年的個人碳排放量將平均額外減少58.6噸。

This is the biggest impact of all possible actions you could take.
這是你能采取的環保行動中最有效的一個。

The team from Sweden’s Lund University came to this conclusion after conducting an analysis of the things individuals can do to produce less greenhouse gases.
瑞典隆德大學的團隊在分析了個人為減少溫室氣體排放量所能采取的行動后，得出了上述結論。

But they found that while we are told to recycle, no government in the western world is advising its citizens to limit their number of offspring.
他們發現，盡管人們被教導要回收利用廢品，但是沒有一個西方政府提倡其公民節制生育。

The study found that the other three main choices people can make in order to cut the amount of carbon dioxide they produce are to eat less meat, get rid of their car, and fly less.
研究發現，為減少二氧化碳排放，人們可以做的另外三件事是：少吃肉，不開車，少乘飛機。

After analyzing 39 studies and government reports assessing the impact individual lifestyle choices make on reducing CO2 levels, the researchers concluded that many of the ‘green’ activities governments recommend – such as recycling or fitting energy-saving bulbs – only make small reductions.
研究人員分析了39項調查和個人生活方式選擇對減少二氧化碳排放影響的政府評估報告后，得出結論：政府提倡的諸如回收利用廢品或安裝節能燈泡等所謂環保行動，減排效果微乎其微。

Lead author Seth Wynes – who does not have any children – said: ‘There are so many factors that affect the climate impact of personal choices, but bringing all these studies side-by-side gives us confidence we’ve identified actions that make a big difference.
塞思?溫斯是該研究報告的第一作者，他本人沒有孩子。塞思表示：“個人選擇對氣候的影響由很多因素構成，但是把這些調查結果羅列起來研究后，我們確信已經找到了能大幅降低碳排放量的行為?！?/p>

‘We found there are four actions that could result in substantial decreases in an individual’s carbon footprint: eating a plant-based diet, avoiding air travel, living car-free, and having smaller families.’
“我們發現四種人類行為可以大幅降低個人碳排放量，即：吃素食，不坐飛機，不開車，縮小家庭規模?！?/strong>

He added that these actions ‘have much greater potential to reduce emissions than commonly promoted strategies’.
塞思還表示，這些行為“降低排放量的可能性比通常宣傳的方法大得多”。

For example, recycling is four times less effective at reducing greenhouse gases than eating a plant-based diet, while using energy-saving bulbs is eight times less effective.
例如，吃素食降低溫室氣體排放量的效率比回收利用廢品高四倍，比使用節能燈泡高八倍。

Living car-free saves about 2.4 tons of CO2 equivalent per year, while eating a plant-based diet saves 0.8 tons.
不開車相當于每年減少2.4噸二氧化碳排放，而吃素食相當于減少0.8噸。

The impact of having a child is calculated by factoring in not only the extra impact of the child, but also that of their potential future descendants.
計算一個孩子對碳排放量的影響有多大，不僅要考慮這個孩子額外產生的碳排量，還要考慮其后代可能產生的影響。

Writing in Environmental Research Letters, the authors said: ‘Persuading a US family to have one less child would provide the same level of emissions reductions as persuading 684 teenagers who do not recycle, to recycle comprehensively for the rest of their lives.’
研究者們在《環境研究快報》期刊中寫道：“如果能說服一個美國家庭少要一個孩子，其效果相當于讓684位不回收利用廢品的青少年在余生都堅持回收利用所減少的碳排放量。”

The Optimum Population Trust, of which Sir David Attenborough is the patron, has urged parents to ‘Stop at Two’.
大衛?愛登堡爵士是慈善組織“優化人口信托”的贊助人，他敦促父母們“生兩個孩子就夠了”。

英文來源：每日郵報
翻譯：王雅鈺（實習生）
編審：yaning、董靜