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In terms of cutting emissions, Europe's leaders have done more than most to respond to climate change. In the same week the floods hit, the European Commission presented its plan to overhaul E.U. economies by 2030 to cut greenhouse-gas emissions 55%, compared with 1990 levels.
在应对气候变化的减排方面，欧洲领导人做得比大多数国家都要多。就在洪水袭击的同一周，欧盟委员会提出了到2030年对欧盟经济体进行全面改革的计划，将温室气体排放量在1990年的水平上削减55%。
Germans are more likely than other European citizens to consider climate action a top priority, according to regional polls. The country's Green Party was already projected to make significant gains in September elections, and the floods have thrust the climate to the center of the campaign. Analysts say that could help the Greens' candidate for Chancellor, Annalena Baerbock, recover some ground lost in polls in recent weeks. Her main rival, Armin Laschet of Merkel's center-right party, is the governor of North Rhine–Westphalia. He may suffer if voters blame him for the state's lack of flood preparedness.
地区民调显示，与其他欧洲公民相比，德国人更有可能将气候行动视为头等大事。据预测，该国的绿党将在9月的选举中取得重大胜利，而洪灾将气候问题推到了竞选的中心位置。分析人士表示，这有助于绿党总理候选人安娜莱娜·贝尔伯克收复近几周在民调中失去的部分失地。她的主要竞争对手是北莱茵-威斯特伐利亚州州长阿明·拉谢，他来自默克尔的中右翼政党。如果选民指责他没有做好防洪准备，那么他可能会吃亏。
Even the greenest governments and the most rapid emissions cuts will not be able to reverse the nascent destabilization of our climate. A certain amount of further warming is already baked into our future, since carbon dioxide lingers in the atmosphere for at least 300 years and will keep trapping more heat. Recent extremes are not a "new normal," scientists say, but likely evidence of the end of any kind of normal or stable climate altogether.
即使是最环保的政府和最迅速的减排，也无法扭转我们的气候初生的不稳定。因为二氧化碳会在大气中存在至少300年，而且还将吸收更多的热量，所以未来一定程度的变暖注定要发生。科学家们说，最近的极端天气并不是“新常态”，而是所有的正常或稳定的气候都可能终结的证据。
For that reason, experts say that in the coming months, governments urgently need to widen their priorities to include adapting to climate instability. It's something developing countries in the global south have long known. But so far, wealthier countries have dedicated just 5% of international climate finance to adaptation initiatives, despite a long-held pledge to split aid 50-50 between emissions cuts and adaptation. As world leaders gear up for COP26, a major U.N. climate summit in November, this summer's events may finally force wealthy countries to take adaptation seriously.
因此，专家们说，在未来几个月里，各国政府迫切需要扩大他们的工作重点，包括适应不稳定的气候。这是南半球的发展中国家早就知道的事情。但到目前为止，尽管长期以来发达国家一直承诺在减排和适应气候变化之间平分援助资金，但它们仅将国际气候资金的5%用于适应气候变化。随着世界各国领导人着手为将于11月召开的联合国气候峰会COP26做准备，今年夏天发生的事情可能最终会迫使发达国家认真对待适应气候变化的问题。
This will mean preparing to deal with an inevitable increase in natural disasters. "We need to reshape disaster management," Baerbock, the Green candidate for Chancellor, told local media in July. "And the federal government needs to take more responsibility for it."
这将意味着准备应对不可避免的自然灾害的增加。“我们需要重塑灾害管理，”绿党总理候选人贝尔伯克在7月告诉当地媒体。“联邦政府需要为此承担更多责任。”
It will mean costly efforts to make homes, transport and infrastructure much more resilient to heat, rain and droughts. It may also mean expanding and formalizing our systems for cleaning up after disasters. At the very least, it means better warning systems and more public awareness that extreme weather is a real threat—whatever country you live in.
这将意味着要付出巨大的努力，使家庭、交通和基础设施更能抵御高温、雨水和干旱。这也可能意味着扩大和正式化我们的灾后清理系统。至少，这意味着更好的预警系统和更多的公众意识，无论你生活在哪个国家，极端天气都是一个真正的威胁。
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