Call for action to save wildlife

Humans share Earth with many different kinds of wildlife. However, many of our animal and plant friends may not be around for much longer.
人类与各种各样的野生生物共享一个地球。但许多我们的动植物朋友很快或许都将不复存在。

According to the first comprehensive report on biodiversity released by the United Nations in May, 1 million of Earth’s 8 million species are threatened with extinction, including amphibians, marine mammals and insects.
据联合国今年5月发布的首份全面生物多样性报告显示，在全球八百万物种中，有一百万正濒临灭绝，其中包括了两栖动物、海洋哺乳动物、昆虫等等。

Humans are mainly to blame for the danger. According to the report, the world’s population has more than doubled (from 3.7 to 7.6 billion) in the last 50 years. Humans have used more than a third of the world’s land and 75 percent of freshwater supplies to grow crops and keep livestock. As a result, there are fewer habitats and fewer natural resources available as well as more pollution.
人类是产生这一威胁的主要原因。该报告认为，在过去的50年间，世界人口增加了一倍（从37亿增至76亿）。人类使用了全球超过1/3的土地和75%的淡水资源来种植农作物，饲养牲畜。结果导致（动植物的）生活环境和自然资源不断减少，污染日渐增多。

Because of human activities, the global rate of species extinction over the past 50 years has been already “at least tens to hundreds of times higher than it has averaged over the past 10 million years”, the report noted.
该报告指出，由于人类活动的原因，过去50年间全球物种灭绝的速度“和过去1000万年间的平均速度相比，已经快了至少数十至数百倍”。

The species extinction could have serious influences on ecosystems.
物种灭绝会对生态系统产生严重影响。

“When you lose a species, think of it like a fabric, and you’re taking and plucking one of the strings,” Brett Scheffers, an ecologist at the University of Florida, US, told NBC News. “Over time, the fabric gets looser and less stable. These are the types of changes we’re observing where entire ecosystems collapse.”
“一种生物灭绝时，就像你扯了一件纺织品的一根线头一样，”美国佛罗里达大学的生物学家布雷特·舍费尔斯在接受美国全国广播公司新闻频道采访时表示。“随着时间的流逝，这件纺织品会变得日益松垮，不再成型。我们所观察的这些变化正是导致整个生态系统瓦解之处。”

These developments lead scientists to believe that there could be a sixth mass extinction, the first to be caused by humans, according to the Guardian. There have been five mass extinctions before, the last being 65 million years ago. That time it was the dinosaurs that died out.
据《卫报》报道，这些事态的发展让科学家们担心会发生第六次生物集群灭绝，这也是由人类所引发的首次。此前共有五次生物集群灭绝，最近的一次发生在6500万年前，当时导致了恐龙灭绝。

“The evidence is clear: The future will be bad for us if we don’t act now. There is no future for us without nature,” Sandra Diaz, coauthor of the report, told National Geographic.
“证据显而易见：如果现在不开始行动，未来将会对我们很不利。没有大自然，我们也就没有未来可言，”该报告的合著者之一桑德拉·迪亚兹在接受《国家地理》杂志采访时表示。

To deal with the problem, many countries have taken action. For example, China has banned the use of rhino horn and tiger bones, and the ivory trade, reported China Daily.
许多国家都采取了措施来应对这一问题。比如，据《中国日报》报道，中国已经禁止犀牛角和虎骨的使用以及象牙贸易。

According to Huffpost, there are things that we can do personally to save species. For example, don’t buy products made from illegal wildlife parts and reduce water waste.
据《赫芬顿邮报》报道，我们个人也能采取行动拯救物种。比如，不要购买用非法的野生生物部位制成的产品以及减少水资源浪费。

“Each individual action has a ripple effect and every person can make a difference – through a mass we can turn the tide,” said Claudia Sobrevila, from Global Wildlife Program, according to official website of the World Bank.
“每一个个体行动都会产生连锁反应，每个人都能带来改变 —— 众人拾柴火焰高，”来自全球野生生物项目组的克劳迪娅·索伯勒维亚在世界银行官网上表示。

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高一755期