一项研究表明，如果你真的想拯救地球的话，最好的方式之一是不生孩子。瑞典隆德大学的研究人员发现，四种人类行为可以大幅降低个人碳排放量，即：吃素食，不坐飞机，不开车，缩小家庭规模。“如果一个美国家庭少要一个孩子，其效果相当于让684位不回收利用废品的年轻人在余生都坚持回收利用所达到的减排效果。”

废品回收利用，用30°C的水洗衣服，改用节能灯泡，这些都被标榜为保护环境的行为方式。

然而一项研究表明，如果你真的想拯救地球的话，最好的方式之一是不生孩子。

研究人员表示，生孩子无疑是对环境最具破坏力的行为。

By not having a child, the carbon footprint of an individual living in a developed country would be reduced on average by an extra 58.6 tons of carbon dioxide every year, based on current emission rates.
按照现在的排放速率，每少生一个孩子，发达国家每年的个人碳排放量将平均额外减少58.6吨。

This is the biggest impact of all possible actions you could take.
这是你能采取的环保行动中最有效的一个。

The team from Sweden’s Lund University came to this conclusion after conducting an analysis of the things individuals can do to produce less greenhouse gases.
瑞典隆德大学的团队在分析了个人为减少温室气体排放量所能采取的行动后，得出了上述结论。

But they found that while we are told to recycle, no government in the western world is advising its citizens to limit their number of offspring.
他们发现，尽管人们被教导要回收利用废品，但是没有一个西方政府提倡其公民节制生育。

The study found that the other three main choices people can make in order to cut the amount of carbon dioxide they produce are to eat less meat, get rid of their car, and fly less.
研究发现，为减少二氧化碳排放，人们可以做的另外三件事是：少吃肉，不开车，少乘飞机。

After analyzing 39 studies and government reports assessing the impact individual lifestyle choices make on reducing CO2 levels, the researchers concluded that many of the ‘green’ activities governments recommend – such as recycling or fitting energy-saving bulbs – only make small reductions.
研究人员分析了39项调查和个人生活方式选择对减少二氧化碳排放影响的政府评估报告后，得出结论：政府提倡的诸如回收利用废品或安装节能灯泡等所谓环保行动，减排效果微乎其微。

Lead author Seth Wynes – who does not have any children – said: ‘There are so many factors that affect the climate impact of personal choices, but bringing all these studies side-by-side gives us confidence we’ve identified actions that make a big difference.
塞思•温斯是该研究报告的第一作者，他本人没有孩子。塞思表示：“个人选择对气候的影响由很多因素构成，但是把这些调查结果罗列起来研究后，我们确信已经找到了能大幅降低碳排放量的行为。”

‘We found there are four actions that could result in substantial decreases in an individual’s carbon footprint: eating a plant-based diet, avoiding air travel, living car-free, and having smaller families.’
“我们发现四种人类行为可以大幅降低个人碳排放量，即：吃素食，不坐飞机，不开车，缩小家庭规模。”

He added that these actions ‘have much greater potential to reduce emissions than commonly promoted strategies’.
塞思还表示，这些行为“降低排放量的可能性比通常宣传的方法大得多”。

For example, recycling is four times less effective at reducing greenhouse gases than eating a plant-based diet, while using energy-saving bulbs is eight times less effective.
例如，吃素食降低温室气体排放量的效率比回收利用废品高四倍，比使用节能灯泡高八倍。

Living car-free saves about 2.4 tons of CO2 equivalent per year, while eating a plant-based diet saves 0.8 tons.
不开车相当于每年减少2.4吨二氧化碳排放，而吃素食相当于减少0.8吨。

The impact of having a child is calculated by factoring in not only the extra impact of the child, but also that of their potential future descendants.
计算一个孩子对碳排放量的影响有多大，不仅要考虑这个孩子额外产生的碳排量，还要考虑其后代可能产生的影响。

Writing in Environmental Research Letters, the authors said: ‘Persuading a US family to have one less child would provide the same level of emissions reductions as persuading 684 teenagers who do not recycle, to recycle comprehensively for the rest of their lives.’
研究者们在《环境研究快报》期刊中写道：“如果能说服一个美国家庭少要一个孩子，其效果相当于让684位不回收利用废品的青少年在余生都坚持回收利用所减少的碳排放量。”

The Optimum Population Trust, of which Sir David Attenborough is the patron, has urged parents to ‘Stop at Two’.
大卫•爱登堡爵士是慈善组织“优化人口信托”的赞助人，他敦促父母们“生两个孩子就够了”。