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虽然每天都听到环境恶化的消息，但没有亲见、似乎总觉得离自己很远。美国国家地理于是精选了10个有代表性的环境恶化实例、配以图片，用最直接的方式向我们敲响了警钟：环境恶化不是危言耸听，它实实在在发生在我们身边!
Global Warming Not Going Gently 全球变暖持续恶化
2009 saw vast patches of the planet protected and world leaders pledge to
fight globalwarming, but the climate continued to change dramatically--putting
itin the "loss" column for the environment this year, according toexperts who
spoke to National Geographic. (Also see "Ten Environmental Wins of 2009.")
Joshua Reichert, managing director of the PewEnvironment Group in
Washington, D.C., said the "overarching problem ofclimate" is one of many
environmental challenges that have worsened。
Conservationist Stuart Pimm added, "This isn't just some gentle sort of
warming process, we are in major ways disrupting the climate. The debates now on
climate change are whether the consensus is too mild. Many people think the
Antarctic and Arctic iceis melting a lot faster than the consensus。
"I think global warming would probably be my pick for the gloomiest story"
of 2009, added Pimm, a conservation biologist at Duke University。
--By John Roach
—Photograph by John McConnico, AP
Oceans Begin to Lose Appetite for Carbon 海洋吸收二氧化碳能力降低
As the world's greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise this year and
further disrupt theglobal climate, the oceans appeared to lose some of their
appetite toabsorb carbon dioxide, a key gas implicated in the planet's warming,
according to a November study。
Thestudy spanned the years between 2000 and 2007. In that time the amountof
carbon from human activity absorbed by the oceans fell from 27 to 24percent. Why
the oceans are less hungry for carbon is unclear, but itmay be related to the
acidification of the oceans due to too muchcarbon, according to the study, led
by Samar Khatiwala, anoceanographer at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory.—Photograph by Irwin Fedriansyah, AP
Drought-Stricken Kenya Loses Out on Rain, Again 肯尼亚的干旱
Tens of elephants and hundreds of other animals have perished so far amid
the worst drought to hit Kenya in more than a decade,conservationists announced
this past summer. The so-called long rains,which usually bring relief to the
region in March and April, neverarrived this year, extending the drought into
its third year for partsof the East African country。
Why the drought is occurring is unknown. Some people blame global climate
change. Others say it's dueto long-term weather cycles。
Whatever the cause, the drought has driven cattle herders to illegally
bring their animals deep intoKenya's parks and reserves in search of water,
where they outcompete wildlife for a drink. "It's really been a body blow to our
animals,"Paul Udoto, a spokesperson for the Kenya Wildlife Service, told
National Geographic News。
—Photograph by Sayyid Azim, AP
Wolves Lose Protection, Hunts Begin 美国解除灰狼禁捕令，猎狼再次开始
In May the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formally removed the gray wolf in
the northern Rockies from protection under the federal
Endangered Species Act, which some conservationists saw as a loss forthe
environment. A few months late, wildlife managers in Idaho and Montana approved
the first wolf hunts in decades。
Hunters began legally pursuing wolves on September 1 in Idaho. As of
November 30, 114 wolveshad been killed in Idaho. Montana's season closed
November 16 with 74killed。
A coalition of conservation groups, including Defenders of Wildlife and the
Centerfor Biological Diversity, had lost a court appeal to halt the hunts.The
groups argue that the hunts will likely genetically isolatesubgroups of the wolf
population, threatening its ability to recover tosustainable levels。
"Although the court's decision to leavewolves unprotected is a setback for
recovery, we hope it is a temporaryone," Noah Greenwald, endangered species
program director for theCenter for Biological Diversity, said in a media
statement.—Photograph from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP
Caribbean Loses Sharks, Barracudas 加勒比海的鲨鱼和梭鱼消失
Some sharks and barracuda species no longer roam the reefs of the
Caribbean, scientists announced in May. Fishers have wiped reefs clean of the
big predators。
Smaller predators, such as invasive Pacific lionfish that escaped from
aquariums, have begun to fill in the niches left by the bigger fish,sending the
coral reef community into flux。
"Healthy and intact coral reefs need large predatory fish in order to
continueto provide human societies with food and with beauty," study author
Chris Stallings, a researcher at Florida State University's Coastal and Marine
Laboratory, told National Geographic News。
The loss of predators is part of the "litany of doom and despair" that Duke
University's Pimm said befalls the environmental movement every year."We are
still chopping down the forest, we are still dumping a lot of greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere, we are still overfishing," he said.—Photograph by David
Doubilet, National Geographic Stock
Hope Lost for the Arctic Ice Sheet? 北极圈冰帽的消失
The Arctic ice cap has been on a steady, staggered march toward its
summer-time death for more than a decade. This yearthe idea of an Arctic Sea
devoid of ice in summers resonated with the public, according to Bill Eichbaum,
a vice president with the international conservation group WWF。
The loss of the ice "putsat risk iconic figures like the polar bear, the
walrus--and it alsoputs at risk the people that live sustainably with that
wildlife intheir regions," Eichbaum said. "I think we realize that that
ishappening in the Arctic and that it is a huge loss."—Photograph by Patrick
Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard via AP
Carbon Monitoring Satellite Crashes 气候监测卫星坠毁
A satellite meant to orbit the Earth and monitor global carbon dioxide
emissions suffered a glitch at takeoff in February and crashed into the ocean
near Antarctica。
Researchers had hoped the Orbiting Carbon Observatory would provide new
insightsinto the distribution of the greenhouse gases around the globe—datathat
could have improved climate predictions。
NASA officials called the U.S. $270 million mission, under development for
nine years, a total loss.—Image courtesy NASA
Lemurs Added to Bush-meat Menu 马达加斯加狐猴成菜肴
Untila March coup d'etat stirred up political unrest on the African
islandnation of Madagascar, lemurs had largely escaped the fate of otherprimates
hunted as bush meat. That has changed, conservationists reported in August。
Criminal gangs are now fueling demand for the primates among well-to-do
restaurant patrons。
The turn of events is one of the more visible conservation setbacks since
President Marc Ravalomanana was ousted from office and all foreignfunding to
keep the nation's national parks running was cut off。
"More than anything else, these poachers are killing the goose that laid
the golden egg, wiping out the very animals that people most want to seeand
undercutting the country and especially local communities by robbing them of
future conservation revenue," Russell Mittermeier,President of Conservation
International, said in media statement.—Photograph courtesy Joel Narivony,
Fanamby
NASA Satellite Highlights India Groundwater Loss NASA
卫星监测到印度地下水的流失
NASA scientists used a pair of tandem or biting satellites called the
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment,or GRACE, to get a read on how quickly
the groundwater is disappearing under northern India's heavily irrigated fields
of wheat, rice, and barley。
The findings, reported in August in the journal Nature, show that 26
cubicmiles (109 cubic kilometers) vanished between 2002 and 2008. The discovery
suggests that current water use rates are unsustainable and,if continued, will
eventually impact the nation's food supply, saidSandra Postel, director of the
Global Water Policy Project。
"Weare already beginning to see this happen in parts of India where
wellshave already been taken out of production because it has either gotten too
expensive to pump the water from deeper down or the wells are justtoo salty or
dry," she said.—Photograph by Anupam Nath, AP
Health Care, Economy Steal Environment's U.S. Political Momentum
美国国策重点转向医疗
Environmental issues were in the spotlight this year when U.S. President
Barack Obama appointed leading scientiststo top government posts, such as
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu andNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Association
Administrator JaneLubchenco。
But that light dimmed as the administration tackled a faltering economy,
debated a national health care policy, and delayed action onan energy bill that
would have curbed domestic greenhouse gas emissions。
"They'vebeen able to devote less of their time and attention than much of
theconservation community would have liked to see on the issue ofclimate," said
Joshua Reichert, the managing director of the PewEnvironment Group, a
Washington, D.C.-based international environmentalpolicy group.—Photograph by
Daniel Ochoa de Olza, AP |
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发表于 2016-7-10 00:04:22