中英双语新闻 大堡礁面临死亡（在线收听）

 The latest survey of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia reveals that an average of 35 percent of coral is now dead or dying in the northern and central 

sections. Experts from James Cook University say it’s the most extreme case of mass bleaching they have ever measured at the World Heritage Site.

So in the last 30 years or so, we’ve seen unprecedented episodes of mass bleaching that is very strongly linked to global warming.

And just describe specifically what happens then to the coral as the temperature in the water rises.

Here corals get most of their colour from the microscopic algae that live inside their tissues, the zooxanthellae. When the coral is stressed, the zooxanthellae die 

back. And because they give the coral most of its colour, when a coral is bleached, we can actually see the underlying carbonate skeleton underneath the tissue. A 

bleached coral is a very sick coral because they are compromised nutritionally because they get most of their energy from photosynthesis by the algae.

And how serious is the situation in the Great Barrier Reef?

Severely bleached corals can die. And right now on the Great Barrier Reef, we’ve seen unprecedented levels of coral mortality in the northern third of the Great 

Barrier Reef. So we estimate that in the top half of the Great Barrier Reef on average, 35 percent of the corals are dead or dying. It’s much less than that in the 

middle and southern section of the Great Barrier Reef. So in the north, many of the reefs we’ve surveyed have already lost half of their coral cover.

And in the context of the Great Barrier Reef, how much of it is the responsibility of the Australian government?

Well, the Australian government is responsible for stewardship of the Great Barrier Reef. There has been some progress recently in dealing with issues like fishing 

pressure and with water quality, but not at all really with climate change. So Australia is hardly leading the world in terms of its greenhouse gas emissions which are 

pretty much stable. Over recent years they haven’t yet declined. Australia recently issued a permit for a new coal mine through the next 60 years. That coal mine, if 

it goes ahead, would be the largest coal mine in the world.

有关澳大利亚沿海大堡礁的最新调查显示：北部和中部平均有35%的珊瑚现在已经死亡或即将死亡。来自詹姆斯库克大学的专家称，这是他们目前在世界遗产地测出大量白化的最极端的例子。

在过去的大概30年里，我们见证了前所未有的大量白化现象，这和全球变暖有强烈的关联。

请具体描述一下海水温度升高会对珊瑚造成什么样的影响。

这里珊瑚的颜色大都来自只能通过显微镜才能看到的藻类，这种藻类生长在珊瑚的组织——黄藻中。珊瑚受到压迫会导致黄藻萎缩。因为珊瑚从这种藻类中获取大部分颜色，所以当一片珊瑚白化时，我们其实可以看到组织下面的碳酸盐骨架。白化了的珊瑚非常病态，因为营养不良，因为他们的能量大多来自藻类的光合作用。

那么大堡礁的情况有多严重？

严重白化的珊瑚可能会死亡。现在，我们观察到大堡礁北段三分之一部分珊瑚死亡的水平是史无前例的。因此我们预测，大堡礁上半部分平均有35%的珊瑚已经或即将死亡，比大堡礁中部和南部的珊瑚数量少很多。在北部，我们研究过的很多礁石都少了一半珊瑚覆盖。

就大堡礁的情况来说，有多少是澳大利亚政府的责任？

澳大利亚政府负责管理大堡礁。最近在应对捕捞压力和海水质量等问题上，政府取得了一些进步，但在应对气候变化方面真的一点进展也没有。所以，澳大利亚在温室气体排放上完全无法引领世界。澳大利亚温室气体排放量非常稳定，近年来也没有下降。最近，澳大利亚向一个新煤矿颁发了60年的开采许可证。如果这个煤矿按计划开发，会成为世界上最大的煤矿。