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| The weakened ozone layer, which is vital to protecting life on Earth, is on track to be restored to full strength within decades — the latest success of a global effort by nations to stop using chemicals that had been destroying the critical layer in the upper atmosphere. | 对保护地球生命至关重要的臭氧层已受到损害，但它有望在几十年内完全恢复，这是一项全球努力——即各国停止使用破坏这一高层大气关键层的化学物质——所取得的最新成功。 |
| In a report for the United Nations, scientists said Monday that China had largely eliminated rogue emissions of one of those chemicals, known as CFC-11. | 周一，科学家在提交给联合国的一份报告中表示，中国已基本消除了其中一种名为三氯一氟甲烷(CFC-11)的化学物质的违规排放。 |
| Once widely used as a refrigerant and in foam insulation, CFC-11 was first synthesized a century ago. Along with similar chemicals, collectively called chlorofluorocarbons, CFC-11 destroys ozone, which blocks ultraviolet radiation from the sun that can cause skin cancer and otherwise harm people, plants and animals. Chlorofluorocarbons were banned under the Montreal Protocol, a landmark environmental agreement that took effect in 1989. | CFC-11于一个世纪前首次合成，曾被广泛用作制冷剂和泡沫绝缘材料。与统称为氯氟烃的类似化学物质一样，CFC-11会破坏臭氧，而臭氧的作用在于阻挡来自太阳的紫外线辐射，这些辐射会导致皮肤癌并以其他方式伤害人类和动植物。1989年生效、具有里程碑意义的环境协议《蒙特利尔议定书》已经将氯氟烃禁用。 |
| If countries continue to maintain the bans on chlorofluorocarbons and other chemicals, ozone levels between the polar regions should reach pre-1980 levels by 2040. Ozone holes, or regions of greater depletion that appear regularly near the South Pole and, less frequently, near the North Pole, should also recover, by 2045 in the Arctic and about 2066 in Antarctica. | 如果各国继续维持对氯氟烃和其他化学品的禁令，到2040年，两极地区之间的臭氧水平应能达到1980年之前的状态。臭氧洞，也就是经常在南极附近出现、在北极附近则较少的臭氧层空洞，应该于2045年之前在北极恢复，南极在2066年前后也能恢复。 |
| “The recovery of the ozone layer is on track,” said David W. Fahey, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory and a co-chairman of the protocol’s scientific assessment panel. “The peak destruction of the global ozone layer is behind us due to the effectiveness of the control measures of the Montreal Protocol that have been adopted by all nations.” | “臭氧层的恢复已步入正轨，”国家海洋和大气管理局化学科学实验室主任、议定书科学评估组联合主席戴维·费伊表示。“由于所有国家都采取了《蒙特利尔议定书》的控制措施，全球臭氧层的破坏高峰已经过去。” |
| In the 1970s, scientists first determined that chlorofluorocarbons were depleting ozone high in the atmosphere. By the mid-1980s, researchers discovered a hole in the ozone above the Antarctic, sparking an urgent international effort to repair it. More than 100 ozone-depleting compounds were eventually banned and phased out. | 科学家于上世纪70年代首次确定氯氟烃正在消耗大气中的臭氧。到80年代中期，研究人员在南极上空发现了一个臭氧空洞，引发了国际社会的紧急修复行动。超过100种消耗臭氧的化合物最终被禁用并逐步淘汰。 |
| The Chinese emissions had threatened to delay restoration of the ozone layer by a decade but the new report said it had only been put off by a year. | 中国的排放本有可能将臭氧层的恢复推迟十年，但这份新报告称事实上只推迟了一年。 |
| “The emissions dropped amazingly abruptly,” said Stephen A. Montzka, a NOAA research chemist and one of the report’s authors. The delay in recovery “is a lot smaller than it could have been if the emissions persisted,” he added. | “排放量突然有了惊人的下降，”国家海洋和大气管理局的化学家斯蒂芬·蒙兹卡表示，他是该报告的作者之一。他补充说，如果排放没有降下来的话，臭氧恢复的延迟“会比预期长得多”。 |
| Emissions of CFC-11 began increasing after 2012 and appeared to come from East Asia, according to a 2018 study by Dr. Montzka. Investigations by The New York Times and others strongly suggested that small factories in Eastern China were the source of the rogue emissions. | 根据蒙兹卡博士2018年的一项研究，CFC-11的排放量在2012年后开始增加，且似乎来自东亚。《纽约时报》和其他机构的调查强烈表明，违规排放的源头是中国东部的小型工厂。 |
| At the time, the head of the United Nations Environment Program, which oversees the protocol, called illegal production of CFC-11 “nothing short of an environmental crime which demands decisive action.” | 当时，负责监督该议定书的联合国环境规划署署长称，非法制造CFC-11“无异于环境犯罪，需要对此采取果断行动”。 |
| But a follow-up study in 2019 showed that emissions were declining, a sign that the Chinese government was cracking down on new production of CFC-11. | 但2019年的一项后续研究显示，排放量在下降，这表明中国政府在整治新的CFC-11排放。 |
| The Chinese CFC-11 was very likely used as a blowing agent in making foam insulation. During foam production, some of the CFC-11 escapes into the atmosphere, where it can be detected and measured, but much of it is contained within the foam as it hardens. | 中国排放的CFC-11很可能来自泡沫绝缘材料的发泡剂。在泡沫生产过程中，部分CFC-11会逃逸到大气中，从而被探测和测量，但大部分CFC-11会在硬化时留在泡沫内部。 |
| In this way, the researchers said, the Chinese rogue production had contributed to the “banks” of chlorofluorocarbons that were produced worldwide before ban went into effect and are in foams as well as refrigeration equipment and fire-extinguishing systems. These existing chemicals are not yet in the atmosphere, but are being released slowly through foam deterioration and destruction, leaks or other means. | 研究人员称，中国的违规生产就以这样的方式增加了禁令生效前全球制造的氯氟烃“库存”，它们存在于泡沫、制冷设备和消防系统之中。这些现存的化学物质尚未进入大气，但正通过泡沫变质和损毁、泄漏或其他方式缓慢释放出来。 |
| Dr. Montzka said the size of the Chinese contribution to the banks was not known. “But if the banks have been built up substantially, that would add a few more years to that expected delay in recovery,” he said. | 蒙兹卡博士表示，尚不明确中国在氯氟烃库存规模中的大小。“但如果库存规模已经很大，那预期的恢复延迟还会再多几年，”他说。 |
| Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization, said the elimination of the rogue emissions was another example of the success of the protocol, which is generally considered to be the most effective global environmental pact ever enacted. | 总部位于华盛顿的研究和倡导机构治理与可持续发展研究所所长杜尔伍德·扎尔克表示，该议定书通常被视为有史以来最具成效的全球环境公约，消除违规排放是其成功的又一案例。 |
| Atmospheric monitoring, which is required by the protocol, detected the problem, Mr. Zaelke said, and brought it to the attention of the treaty’s directorate. “Without admitting guilt, the offending parties got their act together,” he said. “And the measurements are back where they should be.” | 扎尔克表示，议定书所要求的大气监测发现了这一问题，并提请公约理事会予以关注。“虽然没有承认犯错，但违规方采取了整治行动，”他说。“而测量结果又回到了理想水平。” |
| Under the protocol, assessments like the one issued Monday are required at least every four years. In addition to NOAA scientists, contributors included researchers with NASA, the World Meteorology Organization, the United Nations Environment Program and the European Commission. | 根据议定书，周一发布的这种评估至少每四年进行一次。除了国家海洋和大气管理局的科学家，贡献者还包括美国宇航局、世界气象组织、联合国环境规划署和欧洲联盟委员会的研究人员。 |
| The new assessment also considered, for the first time, the effects on ozone of a potential type of climate intervention, or geoengineering. The method,known as stratospheric aerosol injection, is meant to cool the atmosphere by using airplanes or other means to distribute sulfur aerosols to reflect some of the sun’s rays before they reach the surface. | 这份新评估还首次涵盖了一种潜在的气候干预或地球工程对臭氧的影响。这种方法被称为平流层气溶胶注入，通过飞机或其他途径，在太阳光线到达地面之前投放含硫气溶胶以反射部分光线，从而为大气层降温。 |
| The idea has drawn fierce opposition. Among other objections, opponents say that intervening in the climate in this way could have severe unintended consequences, potentially altering weather patterns worldwide. But many scientists and others say that at the least, research is needed, because warming may reach a point where the world becomes desperate to try such an intervention technique, perhaps temporarily to buy time before greenhouse gas reductions can have a significant effect. | 这个想法曾遭到激烈反对。在各种反对意见中，反对者称以这种方式干预气候会导致意想不到的严重后果，可能改变全球的天气模式。但很多科学家和其他人表示，这至少还有研究的必要，因为气候变暖可能达到一个临界点，让全球各国不顾后果去尝试这种干预技术，以便在看到温室气体减排的显著效果之前争取到更多时间——哪怕只是暂时的。 |
| Dr. Fahey of NOAA said that some studies had shown an impact on ozone of sulfur aerosols, so the assessment team was given the task of looking into it. | 国家海洋和大气管理局的费伊博士表示，一些研究已经显示了含硫气溶胶对臭氧的影响，因此评估小组的任务就是对此进行调研。 |
| The protocol “exists to protect the ozone layer, and we’ve done a pretty good job of it in dealing with ozone-depleting substances,” he said. Looking at stratospheric aerosol injection, “is in our wheelhouse,” he added. | 议定书“的存在是为了保护臭氧层，我们在解决消耗臭氧物质的问题上做得很好”，他说。研究平流层气溶胶注入“属于我们的专业范围”，他补充道。 |
| There is a lot of uncertainty in their findings, Dr. Fahey said, but the basic message is that trying to cool the planet by 0.5 degree Celsius (0.9 degree Fahrenheit), say, through the use of sulfur aerosols, would have some effect on ozone. But it “will not destroy the ozone layer and create catastrophic consequences,” he said. | 费伊博士说，他们的发现有很多不确定性，但基本的情况是，用含硫气溶胶使地球降温0.5摄氏度会对臭氧产生一些影响。但这“不会破坏臭氧层并造成灾难性的后果”，他说。 |
| “We actually already knew that because Mount Pinatubo did the experiment for us,” he said, referring to the huge volcanic explosion in the Philippines in 1991 that sent enormous amounts of sulfur gas into the stratosphere, creating an aerosol haze akin to a geoengineering effort. | “我们其实已经知道了后果，因为皮纳图博山为我们做了实验，”他说，指的是1991年菲律宾的大规模火山爆发向平流层释放了大量含硫气体，形成了类似于地球工程制造的气溶胶雾。 |
| That eruption temporarily cooled the planet by about 0.5 degree Celsius, Dr. Fahey said. But the ozone layer did not collapse. “It has resilience,” he said | 费伊博士说，那次喷发使地球短暂降温约0.5摄氏度。但臭氧层没有被毁坏。“它是很有韧性的，”他说。 |
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