日政府呼吁民众早睡早起 减少碳排放

The Japanese government has launched a campaign encouraging people to go to bed and get up extra early in order to reduce household carbon dioxide emissions.

The Morning Challenge campaign, unveiled by the Environment Ministry, is based on the premise that swapping late night electricity for an extra hour of morning sunlight could significantly cut the nation's carbon footprint.

A typical family can reduce its carbon dioxide footprint by 85kg a year if everyone goes to bed and gets up one hour earlier, according to the campaign.

The amount of carbon dioxide emissions potentially saved from going to bed an hour early was the equivalent of 20 percent of annual emissions from household lights, "Many Japanese people waste electric power at night time, for example by watching TV until very late," a ministry spokesperson told The Daily Telegraph.

"But going to bed early and getting up early can avoid wasting electrical power which causes carbon dioxide emissions. If people change their lifestyle, we can save energy and reduce emissions." The campaign also proposes that people take advantage of an extra hour of morning sunlight by improving their lifestyles in general by running, doing yoga and eating a nutritious breakfast.

It is the latest initiative tackling climate change by the Japanese environment ministry, which is faced with the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25 per cent from 1990 levels within the next decade.

It was the same government department that launched the high profile Cool Biz campaign five years ago, which encourages workers to wear short-sleeved shirts and offices not to turn air con lower than 28 degrees during the summer.

日本政府日前发起一项宣传活动，鼓励人们早睡早起，以减少家庭的二氧化碳排放量。

这项由日本环境部开展的名为“清晨的挑战”的宣传活动的依据是：早睡早起一小时可大大减少日本的碳足迹。

该活动称，如果每人每天早睡早起一个小时，那么一个家庭一年可减少二氧化碳排放量85千克。

这相当于一个家庭一年用电所产生的碳排放量的20%。日本环境部一名发言人告诉《每日电讯报》说：“很多日本人晚上用电都很厉害，比如看电视看到很晚。”

“但是早睡早起可以避免电能的浪费，从而减少二氧化碳排放。如果人们都能改变生活方式，我们就能节约能源，减少碳排放。”这一宣传活动还倡议人们利用早起的一小时全面改善生活方式，比如跑步、做瑜伽、吃顿营养早餐等等。

这是日本环境部为应对气候变化推行的一项最新举措。日本目前正面临在未来十年内将二氧化碳排放量在1990年的基础上减少25%的挑战。

日本环境部在五年前发起了一项声势浩大的“清凉商务”运动，该活动鼓励员工夏季上班时穿短袖衬衫，办公室的空调温度不低于28度。

Vocabulary:

tackle: to make a determined effort to deal with a difficult problem or situation 应付，处理，解决（难题或局面）

significantly: in a way that is large or important enough to have an effect on something or to be noticed 有重大意义地；显著地；明显地

high profile: attracts a lot of attention or publicity 高调的