The Tragedy of Air Pollution -- and an Urgent Demand for Clean Air | Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah |TED

譯者: YuChieh Huang 審譯者: Helen Chang

I’d like to dedicate this talk to my three children:

我將演講獻給我的三個孩子:

Phi, Mack

菲爾、麥克、

and Ella Roberta.

以及艾拉·羅伯塔

(Inhales)

(深呼吸)

If I stop breathing for two minutes,

如果我停止呼吸兩分鐘，

I would die.

我會面臨死亡。

It is the simplest thing that all of us do unconsciously

呼吸是我們無意識反射就會做、 最簡單的事

about 20,000 times a day.

一天大約兩萬次。

So normal

再正常不過的事，

that we forget that breathing is the essence of life.

以致於我們忘記了這是生命最基本的需求。

My daughter, Ella Roberta,

我的女兒，艾拉·羅伯塔

stopped breathing frequently

經常停止呼吸，

and was resuscitated numerous times by me at home

我也在家裡對她急救了好幾次，

and in hospital by her doctors,

在醫院也被急救了數次。

until suddenly, on the 15th of February,

很突然的某天，那是2月15日，

three weeks after her ninth birthday,

她九歲生日後的三週，

she took her final breath.

她嚥下了最後一口氣。

Ella was a healthy, clever, sporty and funny girl.

艾拉是一個健康、聰明、 愛運動又有趣的女孩。

She had a lot of musical ability.

她也很有音樂天份，

At the time of her passing,

她去世的那時，

she already played a dozen instruments.

已經會演奏十多種樂器。

She was exceptionally good at football,

我女兒尤其擅長足球、

cycling, skating, swimming and dancing.

單車、溜冰、游泳和跳舞。

Ella was a great writer,

艾拉是一個很好的作家，

and she was also pretty good at art.

對於藝術也相當擅長。

At the time of her passing,

她去世之前，

she had a reading age of 15 years.

已經可以閱讀15歲的青少年讀物。

When she was six,

當她六歲時，

the simple act of breathing became the biggest challenge of her life.

呼吸這個簡單的動作 卻成為了生活中最大的挑戰。

I rushed Ella to hospital 28 times in 28 months

我曾在28個月內 帶著艾拉跑了醫院28次，

when she suddenly began suffering severe respiratory issues.

每當她開始覺得嚴重呼吸困難的時候。

She was diagnosed with life-threatening asthma

她在七歲時被診斷為氣喘重症。

at the age of seven.

She was admitted into intensive care five times

她曾住進加護病房五次，

and put in an induced coma to save her life

無法呼吸，被誘導昏迷以挽救性命。

when her lungs gave up on her.

It wasn't until after the first coroner's inquest

直到2014年9月第一次驗屍報告

in September 2014

that I learned that her possible trigger of her sudden illness

我才明白引起我女兒氣喘發作猝死的原因

was to do with "something in the air."

可能跟空氣有關。

But at that time, we did not know what it was.

不過當時，我們不清楚真正原因，

Ella had one of the worst cases ever of asthma

在英國，艾拉是一個氣喘重症的案例紀錄，

recorded in the United Kingdom,

according to the pathologist who carried out her postmortem.

引據自病理學家的驗屍報告。

We as a family, we live 25 meters from the South Circular

我們一家住在南倫敦區， 距離南環路25公尺遠，

in southeast London.

It is one of the busiest roads in the UK.

這裡是英國最繁忙的道路之一。

I later learned that air pollution around our home

後來，我也發現家裡附近的空氣污染

was persistently far above the levels deemed acceptable by the WHO.

空氣品質遠遠高過WHO的標準。

On every walk to school, every bike ride,

每次走路去學校、每次騎腳踏車，

every time Ella went outside,

每次艾拉出門，

her body was absorbing invisible, toxic air

她都在呼吸看不見卻有毒的空氣，

spewed out by petrol and diesel vehicles.

排放自馬路上的汽油車、柴油車。

A second inquest into Ella’s death, just in December 2020,

2020年12月對於艾拉的死亡 進行第二次調查，

the coroner, Philip Barlow,

驗屍官 菲利普·巴洛 (Philip Barlow)

he concluded that it was the excessive illegal levels of air pollution,

他的結論指出嚴重的空氣污染

not only inducted her asthma,

不僅誘發了氣喘發作，

but it was the highest ever on the night she died.

在艾拉死亡的當晚，空氣污染 也達到史上最嚴重的紀錄。

As a result of this,

因此，

Ella is the first person in the world

艾拉是世界上第一位

to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

死亡診斷書死因記錄著空氣污染的。

on her death certificate.

Ella's story is unique, I admit,

我承認，艾拉的故事是特別的，

but her experience is shockingly ordinary.

但是她的生活經驗非常的普通正常。

In too many countries around the world,

全球有太多國家空氣污染非常嚴重，

air pollution exceeds

what the WHO tells us is acceptable to breathe.

超過了WHO訂定的標準。

Fossil fuels, everyone, they're killing us.

各位、石化燃料正在扼殺我們的生存機會。

Almost one in five premature deaths

接近有1/5早夭原因與空氣汙染有關。

are linked to air pollution

from combustion engines, coal power plants,

污染來自發動機、煤力發電廠、

wood burning, ammonia, cooking stoves

木材燃燒、氨、瓦斯爐、

and other fossil fuels.

以及其他石化燃料。

That is 8.7 million people a year dying from heart attacks, cancer, strokes,

每年有870萬人死於心臟病、癌症、中風、

dementia, suicide, depression, stillbirths and miscarriages.

癡呆、自殺、憂鬱症、死產和流產。

And that's just the start.

然而這只是個開端，

Children are the worst affected due to their lungs still developing.

還在發育中的小孩子 是最容易受到影響的，

Air pollution stunts the development of lungs and brains.

空氣污染會讓肺部和大腦發展遲滯，

Scientists, believe it, are finding soot in mothers placentas,

請相信科學家們從胎盤中發現煤灰殘留，

meaning unborn babies are directly exposed to the black carbon

代表著未出生的胎兒 已經直接暴露於黑炭中，

produced by motor traffic and fuel burning.

這些黑炭來自於汽機車和燃料的排放。

Like Ella, 93 percent of children around the world

像艾拉這樣，全球有93%的小孩

are breathing unsafe air.

正呼吸著不安全的空氣。

The real tragedy of this is we know how to solve this public health crisis.

真正的悲劇是我們知道 該如何處理這公共衛生的危機，

We need to shift from toxic fossil fuels

我們需要減少使用有毒的石化燃料，

to clean, electrified public and active transport.

鼓勵多使用乾淨的電動能源運輸工具。

The second inquest into Ella’s death made it abundantly clear:

艾拉第二次的死亡調查非常清楚地指出，

Ella would still be here alive today

如果我們家附近的空氣品質水準 符合WHO的標準，艾拉現在仍會活著。

if air pollution around our home

had been within the WHO acceptable limits.

Air pollution is an invisible global pandemic.

空氣污染看不見、也全球蔓延的，

It's a silent killer.

是隱形殺手。

You know what, unless you clean up the air,

大家也知道，除非解決空污，

you will never resolve climate change.

不然不可能減緩氣候變遷造成的問題。

Do you know why?

這是為什麼呢?

It's linked to global warming,

這與全球暖化有關，

acid rain,

酸雨，

effects on wildlife,

對於野生動物的生態影響，

depletion of the ozone layer.

臭氧層的破壞。

But for me, this is personal.

然而對於我來說，這是與個人切身相關。

Eight years after Ella's death,

艾拉死後八年，

I still visit respiratory doctors with Ella’s siblings,

我仍然會帶著艾拉的兄弟 去看胸腔科醫師，

who continue to be impacted by excessive air pollution.

他們的健康仍持續受到嚴重空污的影響。

As my children and I share a genetic link,

我的小孩們有類似的遺傳基因，

we are equally susceptible to air pollution.

同樣容易受到空污影響。

The WHO recently strengthened its guidelines,

最近WHO已經強化了空氣污染指引，

and the evidence shows us there is no such thing as safe levels.

證據也顯示其實沒有所謂安全的標準。

Every country in the world

全球每個國家

must enshrine these new WHO guidelines into law now.

應該要將WHO的標準指引納入立法範疇。

I'm putting them on notice.

我

(Applause)

(掌聲)

What do I want?

我想要做甚麼?

I'll tell you what I want.

讓我告訴你們，我想要甚麼。

I want every government to guarantee their children

我想要每個政府都能保證她們的下一代

the chance to live full and healthy lives.

能有機會活得更好、更健康，

To be able to fully and safely breathe.

可以大口安全地呼吸。

Breathing clean air is every child's human right.

呼吸新鮮乾淨的空氣 是每一個小孩的人權。

Governments have a duty of care to protect their citizens.

政府有照護責任保護人民。

Remember, 350 million people in the world have asthma,

請記得，全球有3億5千萬人有氣喘疾病，

including me.

包括我自己。

(Breathing through inhaler)

(使用吸入器呼吸)

The fight to breathe clean air is real.

這是一場真實的捍衛呼吸乾淨空氣行動。

When I say "Breathe life,"

當我說「呼吸生命（Breathe life）」，

what do you say?

你們應該回甚麼？

You say, "Clean air is our right!"

你們回：「乾淨的空氣是我們的權利！」

Breathe life!

呼吸生命（Breathe life）！

Audience: Clean air is our right!

乾淨的空氣是我們的權利！

RAKD: Thank you for listening.

謝謝各位聆聽。

Thank you very much.

非常謝謝。

(Applause and cheers)

(掌聲和歡呼)

[Take action on climate change at countdown.ted.com]

[氣候變遷行動 at countdown.ted.com]