全球有奖征集气候变暖解决方案

    全球变暖形势仍未得到好转。根据《纽约时报》（New York Times）披露的下届联合国气候大会的有关情况，几乎可以100%确定人类活动是全球变暖的罪魁祸首。如果不采取行动削减温室气体排放，全球海平面将在本世纪末灾难性地上升3英尺（约合0.9144米）。2010年的坎昆会议上，各国领导人达成共识：人类所能承受的全球温度上升极限是比工业革命前高出2摄氏度。英国NGO组织碳跟踪系统最新研究表明，如果要避免2摄氏度的升高，人类必须在本世纪中叶前停止绝大部分石油、天然气和煤炭的使用。这是一项异常艰难的任务，因为人类几乎所有的能源都来自于化石。

    正是这样的挑战激励着美国一流高校——加州理工学院（California Institute of Technology）的科学家和工程师们。为了使世界更加可持续发展，加州理工学院雷斯尼克可持续发展研究所（Resnick Sustainability Institute）、一所由企业家琳达和斯图尔特•雷斯尼克资助的智库机构设立了一个全球性奖项，以奖励针对能源和可持续发展领域痼疾的创新。琳达和斯图尔特•雷斯尼克创造了POM Wonderful和FIJI Water这两大品牌。雷斯尼克研究所执行董事尼尔•弗罗姆说：“我们希望能展示世界各地才华横溢的年轻科学家、工程师、企业家以及政界人士在可持续发展方面所做的创新。”

    这项大奖被命名为“共鸣奖”（Resonate Awards），评奖委员会由加州理工学院教授和外部专家组成。委员们将在全球范围内寻找那些针对全球气候、粮食、水源和能源问题提出了颠覆性解决方案而又籍籍无名的年轻人。弗罗姆说：“我们的目标之一是探寻更具有可持续发展能力的商业模型。”

    获奖者名单将于2014年春季公布。大家可以访问http://resnick.caltech.edu/awards.php页面申请这个奖项。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航  

    The news on global warming isn't getting any better. A draft summary of the next big United Nations climate study, as reported by the New York Times, concludes with nearly 100% certainty that human activity is the main cause behind the earth's heating, and that if nothing is done to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, sea levels could rise a catastrophic three feet by the end of the century. In the 2010 Cancun Agreement, world leaders concluded that the most we can afford is a 2°C rise in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels. Another new study by the British NGO Carbon Tracker found that to avoid that 2°C rise, the world must largely wean itself from oil, gas, and coal by mid-century. Because nearly all of our energy now comes from fossil fuels this is, to say the least, a daunting task.

    Those kind of challenges are what motivate the scientists and engineers at California Institute of Technology, one of the nation's premier universities. In a quest to make the world more sustainable, The Resnick Sustainability Institute at Caltech, a think tank which is funded by entrepreneurs Lynda and Stewart Resnick, who created the POM Wonderful and FIJI Water brands, has established a global award that will honor cutting-edge work that addresses some of the hardest problems in energy and sustainability. Says Neil Fromer, the Resnick Institute's Executive Director: "We are trying to shine a light on the brilliant young scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and politicians around the world who are innovating in sustainability."

    Called the Resonate Awards, the contest will be judged by a panel comprised of Caltech's professors and outside experts. The judges will look for young, unheralded innovators around the world who are thinking in radically new ways to solve the world's climate, food, water, and resources problems. "One of our goals," says Fromer, "is to discover new business models for working in a more sustainable ways."

    The award winners will be announced in the spring of 2014. To apply, go tohttp://resnick.caltech.edu/awards.php.