Name: 通貨膨脹、航空業復甦、疫情造成的塑膠問題 | 2021年4月20日 (What Is Inflation? | April 20, 2021)
Uploaded: 2021-04-26T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 10 min 1 s

嗨，我是 Carl Azuz，歡迎來到本節目。

First topic is inflation—could be good if you're trying to get swole at the gym.

第一個話題是通貨膨脹——如果指的是你想在健身房變肌肉猛男的話，那這是一個好的詞。(inflation亦指膨脹)。

Here's what this is all about: Inflation, simply put, is when prices go up and your money doesn't buy as much furniture, airplane tickets, used cars, rent, personal care items like soap.

簡而言之，通貨膨脹是指價格上漲，而你的錢卻不能買到一樣多的家具、飛機票、二手車、租金、像是肥皂那類的個人護理用品。

All of this stuff got more expensive last month.

這些東西在上個月都變得更貴了。

One reason is because gasoline prices have been skyrocketing.

原因之一是汽油價格一直在飛漲。

They were 22 and a half percent higher this March than they were last March.

今年 3 月比去年 3 月高出 22.5%。

This is cutting into family budgets, the cost of living, and it makes it more expensive to ship the items we buy.

這造成要削減家庭預算、生活成本，且使得我們購買物品的運輸成本更高。

When more people were staying home and businesses were shut down, demand for gasoline dropped, and so did its price.

當更多的人待在家裡且企業停工，汽油的需求量下降，其價格也會隨之下降。

With people getting back to the office, back to traveling, and businesses reopening, gas prices are shooting upward; supply and demand also factor in.

隨著人們回到辦公室、回去旅遊，及企業重新開工，汽油價格也往上飛漲；此外，供求關係也是原因之一。

Many Americans are in the market for new homes, new bicycles, and many other goods.

許多美國人都在購置新房、新腳踏車和許多其他商品。

But the inventory of these things is exceptionally low, so that's driving prices up.

但是這些東西目前的庫存量特別少，所以這就促使價格上漲。

But if they go up too much too fast, people may pull back on spending and buy less, and that can hurt the economy.

但如果漲得太快，人們不再消費，減少購買，就可能會損害經濟。

Since last year, America's bounce-back from COVID-related problems has been faster than many economists expected.

自去年以來，美國因冠狀病毒相關問題中恢復的速度比許多經濟學家預期的要快。

Some are neither surprised nor concerned that inflation would rise more than usual in early 2021, but others are concerned by how much it's rising by.

有些人對 2021 年初通貨膨脹會比往常上升既不驚訝也不擔心，但也有人擔心究竟會上升多少。

Many banking officials are comfortable with an inflation rate of two percent per year.

許多銀行方對每年 2% 的通貨膨脹率感到滿意。

They believe this is just the right amount to keep price-rises moderate, but also to keep the economy growing.

他們認為，這個數額恰好可以讓物價保持適度的漲幅，同時也可以讓經濟保持增長。

But between March of last year and March of this year, consumer prices rose by 2.6 percent, more than half a percentage point higher than bankers' comfort zone.

但從去年 3 月到今年 3 月，民眾消費的價格上漲了 2.6%，比銀行方認為的舒適圈高出半個百分點。

And the question is, is this temporary and likely to level out as the year goes on?

而問題是，這種情況是暫時的，且有可能隨著今年的發展而趨於平穩嗎？

Or is this a sign of sustained inflation on the horizon?

還是說這是持續通貨膨脹的警訊？

One thing economists do agree on is that the cost of goods will probably keep rising through the summer.

但有一件事是經濟學家們認同的，那就是商品成本可能會在夏季持續上漲。

10 second trivia: Which of these airlines is oldest?

10 秒問答：以下哪家航空公司歷史最悠久？

澳洲航空、俄羅斯航空、達美航空，或是美國航空。

These are listed in order of oldest to youngest, with Australia's Qantas having been founded in 1920.

這個名單是依照歷史最悠久到最新的排序，而澳洲航空成立於 1920 年。

We mentioned that plane tickets were on the rise.

In a normal year, it accounts for more than five percent of America's gross domestic product.

一般來說，它占美國國內生產總值的百分之五以上。

但它在疫情期間受到了巨大的衝擊。

In 2020, experts say international travel decreased more than 80 percent from 2019, and a dramatic drop in business bookings, which typically make more money for airlines than leisure bookings do, were a major reason why the industry lost billions of dollars last year.

在 2020 年，專家表示國際旅行比 2019 年減少了 80％ 以上，商務旅行的預訂急劇下降，這通常比休閒旅行的預訂為航空公司賺更多的錢，是去年此行業損失數十億美元的主要原因。

But there are signs that things are getting off the ground again, and that comes with challenges of its own.

但有跡象表明，事情又開始有了進展，而這也為它自身帶來了挑戰。

The pressure is on at American Airlines' Tulsa maintenance base.

美國航空位在塔爾薩的維修基地正繃緊神經。

Here, crews are preparing planes to meet the new surge in air travel.

工作人員正在這裏準備應對新的搭機潮。

Hundreds of commercial airliners sat idle on taxiways, ramps, even runways through much of the pandemic.

在疫情的大部分時間裡，數百架商業客機閒置在滑行道、停機坪甚至跑道上。

Now, American says all of its planes will be flying again by the end of the month.

現在，美國人表示所有的飛機將在月底前重新飛行。

In many ways, we touch the aircraft as it have more maintenance requirements on the aircraft that has been in storage or is in storage than we do with the aircraft that's out actively flying

在很多方面，曾經或是現在正存放著的飛機比正在服役中的飛機還需要維護。

Roger Steels' team of mechanics are spending 1,000 hours to revive just one plane here.

Roger Steels 的技師團隊光是為了維護一架飛機就花了 1000 個小時。

Part of their work includes federally mandated inspections of the Boeing 737.

他們的部分工作包括聯邦規定對波音 737 進行檢查。

It is the world's most popular airliner—American alone parked 300 of them because of the pandemic.

它是世界上最受歡迎的客機，而疫情期間，光是在美國就存放了300 架。

The FAA said the plane sitting idle could cause a critical valve to fail, risking catastrophic dual engine power loss in flight.

FAA (美國聯邦航空局)表示，飛機閒置時可能會導致重要的的閥門失去作用，有可能在飛行中災難性地造成雙引擎失去動力。

All of the things that could have been negatively impacted by the fact that it was parked have been identified, they've been addressed, and they've been resolved.

所有可能因閒置會受到的負面影響都已經檢查過了，也已經解決了，

And so I can assure you 110 percent that these aircrafts are safe and they're ready to fly.

所以我可以向你們保證這些飛機是安全的，它們已經準備好飛行了。

Planes have been stored exclusively outside for months on end.

飛機已經連續幾個月停放在室外。

And crews came out here about every 10 days to check things like the engine—uncover them and fire them up.

而工作人員大約每 10 天就會來這裡檢查一次，比如打開並發動引擎。

Also check the landing gear, the tires, and the brakes—the crucial parts inside there.

同時也會檢查起落架、輪胎和剎車，就是內部比較重要的部件。

About 100 planes were stored out here at the peak of the pandemic, but now there are only a few left.

疫情高峰期，這裡存放了大約 100 架飛機，但現在只剩下幾架了。

The latest data shows airline travel closing in on a recovery—industry groups say flights are now 75 percent full, up from 60 percent just last month.

最新數據顯示，航空旅行正在復甦，航空業表示，目前的航班量自上個月的 60% 上升到 75% 。

New demand means the industry is bouncing back sooner than expected.

新的需求意味著此行業的恢復比預期的要快。

The newest jump in numbers means the Transportation Security Administration needs more help screening passengers.

數量的增加意味著運輸安全管理部門需要更多人力來幫忙檢查乘客。

It is hiring 6,000 new officers to staff checkpoints, holding hiring events nationwide.

該部門正在招聘 6000 名新員工，在全國各地舉行招聘活動。

I think the big thing is, for us, we want to be prepared for the summer; we're clearly taking a lot of efforts to make sure that happens.

我認為對我們來說最重要的是，我們要做好準備迎接夏天的到來，而我們做了很多努力確保這會發生。

United Airlines just said it will hire new pilots for the first time in more than a year, while thousands of existing pilots will be coming back from pandemic time off.

聯合航空剛表示將在一年多以來首次招聘新的機師，而因疫情休息的數千名現有機師將回到崗位。

A CNN review of aviation safety records from across the country uncovered flight crews reporting rusty skills and in-flight errors after returning to work.

CNN 對全國各地的航空安全記錄進行了審查，發現在重返工作崗位後，飛行組員的技能生疏和在飛行中發生錯誤。

American Airlines says its pilots will be thoroughly rechecked in classrooms and simulators before coming back on the job.

美國航空表示，回到工作崗位之前，會讓其機師在教室和模擬器中進行徹底的複檢。

There's a lot of pent-up travel demand, and we really want to be there and be ready to move our customers to wherever they want to go, safely, efficiently, and make sure we're putting out a good product.

現在有很多的旅行需求，我們真的希望能做好準備，將我們的客戶安全、有效地載送到任何他們想去的地方，並確保我們推出好的產品。

CNN 的 Pete Montaigne 在奧克拉荷馬州的塔爾薩市進行報導。

A proliferation of plastic waste is a side effect of the coronavirus pandemic.

塑膠垃圾的泛濫是冠狀病毒疫情的副作用。

When oil prices crashed last year, it became cheaper for manufacturers to make new plastics than to recycle old ones.

當去年油價暴跌時，製造商製造新的塑膠比回收舊的塑膠更便宜。

With to-go order increasing, restaurants had to resort to plastic takeout containers instead of washable dishes.

隨著外帶訂單增加，餐廳不得不使用塑膠外賣容器，而不是可清洗的碗盤。

And then there's the issue of personal protective equipment or PPE.

還有就是個人防護具或稱 PPE 的問題。

In the early days of COVID, the dire shortage of PPE left many frontline healthcare workers painfully vulnerable.

在疫情初期，PPE 的嚴重短缺讓很多一線醫護人員痛苦不堪。

But now, so many masks are made each year they could cover an area the size of Switzerland.

但現在，每年製造如此多的口罩，多到可以覆蓋一個瑞士的面積。

Now, everybody is aware of PPE and everybody in health care is being asked to use more PPE.

現在，每個人都意識到 PPE 的重要性，且醫護的大家都被要求使用更多的 PPE。

[We] now have almost 70,000 people to potentially use a mask every single day.

現在有將近 70,000 每天可能使用口罩。

So the number of masks that we need, it went from 200 operating theaters and some patient floors to literally 70,000 a day.

所以，我們需要的口罩數量，從手術室和和一些病房的 200 個，變成了每天 7 萬個。

That's from one hospital, adding to an already staggering amount of plastic waste coming from our health care system.

這只是一家醫院的現況，還要加上我們的醫療系統中已經出現大量的塑膠垃圾。

We estimate that it's somewhere around a million tons per year of clean plastics—that's a million tons per year in the US—we're estimating that's probably equivalent in Europe and probably about the same amount in Asia.

我們估計每年大約有一百萬噸的乾淨塑膠，在美國每年有一百萬噸，我們估計在歐洲大概也是這樣，在亞洲大概也是這樣。

Unfortunately, today, I would say probably the majority of it is still going to landfill.

不幸的是，我認為現今可能大部分的塑膠垃圾還是會進到垃圾掩埋場。

如果幸運的話，會進到垃圾掩埋場。

The Ocean Conservancy collected more than 100,000 pieces of PPE during the second half of 2020 alone, and that is just a tiny tip of a mountain of pandemic plastic waste.

光在 2020 年下半年，海洋保護協會就收集了超過 10 萬件 PPE，而這僅僅是塑膠垃圾山的一角。

Manufacturers went into overdrive to produce billions of pieces of PPE.

廠商全力以赴生產數十億件 PPE。

Things like gloves, things like garments, things like masks, beard nets, hair covers, shoe covers.

比如手套、防護衣、口罩、鬍套、髮套、鞋套。

Personal protective equipment has always been around, but due to COVID, it's now a monster waste stream.

個人防護具一直存在，但是因為疫情，這成了龐大的垃圾。

Programs offered by private recycling companies like Terracycle are taking aim at the discarded consumer PPE, but contaminated materials like those coming from hospitals aren't as simple to process.

像 Terracycle 這樣的私人回收公司瞄準的是廢棄的消費者 PPE，但是像醫院那些被污染的材料卻沒那麼容易處理。

Waste coming from certain areas, like hospitals, does qualify as hazardous waste in many cases, which means legally, from a regulatory standpoint, we can't touch it.

垃圾來自特定地區，像是醫院，在很多情況下確實符合危險垃圾的條件，這意味著在法律上，從監管的角度來看，我們不能碰它。

Recyclers are afraid to take materials from hospitals because maybe there's a syringe in there, something came in that wasn't supposed to and they didn't catch it in time and they have to shut down their whole plant and disinfect everything.

回收商不敢從醫院拿材料，因為裡面可能有注射器，有不該拿的東西在裡面也沒有及時發現，就只好把整間工廠關閉，把所有的東西都消毒。

Recycling is really third on the hierarchy when it comes to dealing with waste.

在處理垃圾的問題上，回收真的是第三位順位。

The first is to reduce the use of plastic, second is to reuse, and then the third is to recycle.

首先是減少塑膠的使用，第二是再利用，然後第三是回收。

It's a situation that has forced the Cleveland Clinic to rethink and look for other ways to reduce their plastic footprint.

這種情況迫使克利夫蘭醫學中心重新思考並尋找其他方法來減少他們使用塑膠。

"Best possible outcome" characterizes today's 10 out of 10 segment.

「最好的可能結果」是今天的趣事。

During a recent air show over the eastern coast of Florida, an engine failure caused a World War II era plane to go down.

在最近的一次航空表演中，在佛羅里達州東部海岸上空，引擎故障導致一架二戰時期的飛機在海上迫停。

The pilot maneuvered it near a beach and was somehow able to avoid people, softly ditched the aircraft into the water, and walk—or wade—away without any major injuries.

機師在海灘附近操控它，成功以某種方式避開大眾，將飛機輕輕地拋入水中，然後毫髮無傷的脫困，沒有造成重大傷害。

Not the kind of finale you want to be in.

But if you're flexing a Texan, jockeying a Mustang, fighting fire in a Spitfire, finding it hard to steer a Man, running out of air in a Corsair, or going fishing in a Swordfish, and you can be ginger with your Avenger,

但如果你是在誇耀德州佬教練機、駕駛野馬式戰鬥機、用噴火戰鬥機中撲滅火焰、發現很難控制人力飛機、在海盜式戰鬥機有窒息感，或開著劍魚式魚雷轟炸機去釣魚，而且可以帶生氣地駕駛復仇者式轟炸機，

there are worse things than beaching at a beach within reach of air assistance.

還有比在空中援助範圍內在海灘上擱淺更糟糕的事情。

I'm Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Hampshire High School in Romney, West Virginia, great to see you, thank you for subscribing on YouTube.

我是 CNN 10 的 Carl Azuz。西維吉尼亞州的 Hampshire 高中，很高興見到你們，謝謝你們在 Youtube 上訂閱。