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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Northeast Arctic cod1, usually found in the Barents Seas, have been traveling up to the archipelago of Svalbard for the past three years.
Off the coast of Longyearbyen, a Norwegian city located just 1,300 kilometers from the North Pole, scientists are trying to figure out the impact the non-native fish species' appearance will have.
Professor Ole Arve Misund, once a fisherman and now marine2 biologist from the University Centre in Svalbard, is one of them.
"We are trying here to catch a Northeast Arctic Cod that we have seen on our echo-sounder. I had one just touching3 my gear now but it slipped away. So we know they are here, and they are coming because the water is warm enough for them to be here to feed."
Within just five minutes, Misund quickly gets his first catch of the day, which would not have been the case a decade ago.
全球变暖 北极生态系统面临挑战
Northeast Arctic Cod is a predatory species and one of the largest cod stocks in the world. In recent years, an increasing proportion of the mature cod has been caught north of the traditional spawning4 area.
"The last three years, we have had them (Northeast Arctic Cod) every autumn. They were recorded here before to a varying degree, but because of the warmer waters in recent years, we now see them every season. The waters are heating, and they are now so warm - 3 to 4 degrees Celsius7 - and it's possible for species that normally live further south to come all this way to feed."
Warmer waters in the Arctic Ocean, on one hand, help these fish grow faster. But on the other hand, it could make fish more prone8 to infection from sea lice and other diseases, while causing more severe storms.
Professor Misund says the northeast Arctic cod could destroy the habitat of local fish as well as the Arctic's ecosystem9.
"They are, of course, reducing the number of Polar Cod. They are eating them of course. But they are mainly feeding on krill and basic organisms. So of course they are making an impact on the other fauna10, but I mean - that's the way nature is."
Unlike northeast Arctic cod, polar Cod exists in the region all year around, and is an important food source for seabirds, seals and whales.
The large reduction of its stock could harm the food chain, thus destroying the fragile balance of the ecosystem.
However, for local residents relying on planes to ship in fresh food, more cod in the fjord turns out to be a bonus.
Lars Frode Stangeland is a local skipper.
"The locals, of course they feel happy, they get cod and there is more and more fishing every year. So we get a lot of cod and haddock."
The World Meteorological Organization has warned that the earth's wild weather this year is breaking annual temperature records due to man-made global warming.
As such, the international community is waiting to see whether global leaders can keep their promise of keeping global warming within 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, at the forthcoming Paris Climate Conference.
For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen.
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1 cod | |
n.鳕鱼;v.愚弄;哄骗 | |
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2 marine | |
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵 | |
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3 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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4 spawning | |
产卵 | |
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5 cods | |
n.鳕鱼(cod的复数形式)v.哄骗,愚弄(cod的第三人称单数形式) | |
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6 migration | |
n.迁移,移居,(鸟类等的)迁徙 | |
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7 Celsius | |
adj.摄氏温度计的,摄氏的 | |
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8 prone | |
adj.(to)易于…的,很可能…的;俯卧的 | |
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9 ecosystem | |
n.生态系统 | |
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10 fauna | |
n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物,动物区系 | |
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