美国科学60秒 SSS 2012-11-09_在线英语听力室_免费在线英语听力学习网站

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Rising seas and severe storms are the most talked-about threats of climate change, but here's another, no more coffee. Because rising temperatures may cripple wild populations of / coffee, the most cultivated species in the world. So says a study in the journal PLoS ONE.

Researchers used climate models to forecast the effects of warming on / coffee trees in Ethiopia, their native range. Under the best case of scenario¹, meaning fewer emissions² and less warming, only a third of today's range would still be suitable for coffee by 2080. And the worst case, wild / could be nearly wiped out in the region.

That's because coffee trees are sensitive to temperature, the researchers say, and they may not be able to colonize³ new areas fast enough to beat climate change. That’s assuming no direct human impact, like clearing land for grazing, which is already a problem there.

Of course, the coffee in your cup doesn't come from wild trees, but wild coffee forests have a much bigger gene⁴ pool than cultivated crops, meaning more resistence to disease, pest, and drought. Preserving that diversity might just be grounds to act on climate change.

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1 scenario
n.剧本，脚本；概要
参考例句：
But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。 This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

2 emissions
排放物( emission的名词复数 )；散发物（尤指气体）
参考例句：
Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。 Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

3 colonize
v.建立殖民地，拓殖；定居，居于
参考例句：
Around 700 Arabs began to colonize East Africa.公元700年阿拉伯人开始把东非变为殖民地。 Japan used to colonize many countries in Asia.日本曾经殖民过许多亚洲国家。

4 gene
n.遗传因子，基因
参考例句：
A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。 The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。