How many times has your mother told you to turn off the lights when you leave a room, or to close the fridge door while you decide what to eat. Well, climatologists are on her side. Because according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reducing global carbon emissions should begin at home.
有多少次，你的母亲告诫你在离开房间时要随手关灯，或是不要在想着要吃什么时开着冰箱的门？嗯，气候学家们会站在令堂一边的，因为根据《美国科学院院刊》上刊载的一项研究，减少全球的碳排放量要从家居做起。

Even if politicians manage to pass climate change legislation, it could be years or even decades before those policies start to make a difference. In the meantime, scientists say, there are things we can all do to shrink our carbon footprint. You've heard most of ‘em before: everything from insulating your home and using low-flow showerheads to driving more efficient vehicles and carpooling to the office. But these things really work.
即使政客们通过了保护气候的法律，但在那些法案产生实际效果前还得等上数十年。与此同时，科学家们称，我们可以从点滴做起减少碳排放量。这些做法绝大多数你或曾耳闻:像是节省用电、节约用水，乃至驾驶环保汽车或是拼车出行，听上去不起眼，但确实有用。
Based in part on how folks responded to the energy crisis in the '70s, the scientists calculated how many Americans might be willing to reform their energy-wasting ways. And they found that within 10 years, we could reasonably expect to cut our national emissions by 7.4 percent. That much carbon is slightly larger than the total amount put out by France. If we could manage that, the whole world might say merci.
通过询问民众对上世纪70年代美国能源危机的反应，科学家们计算了那些愿意改变自己浪费能源行为的人数，并得出了在未来十年间美国全国碳排放总量预期可减少7.4%的结论。而这少出来的7.4%排放量比法国全国的碳排放总量还要多。如果我们美国人能真正做到这一点，那全世界都会向我们道声谢谢的。