新奇事件簿 昆虫数量锐减威胁人类安全

The number of insects in the world has fallen by 45 per cent in the past 35 years. Scientists say this could be dangerous for humans. A report on insect numbers has been published in the journal ‘Science'. It says the human population has doubled since 1980 while the number of insects has nearly halved¹. One of the biggest reasons for this loss of insects is deforestation. Many of the places where insects live are disappearing because of new cities and land being used for farming. Another reason is global warming. Scientists say that in the UK, the number of beetles², butterflies, bees and wasps³ has fallen by up to 60 per cent. Many countries are worried about the disappearance⁴ of bees and butterflies.

在过去的35年里，世界上昆虫的数量减少了45%。科学家称，这会给人类带来危险。《科学》杂志发表了一则关于昆虫数量的报告。报告称，自1980年以来，人类的数量翻倍，而昆虫的数量却几乎减半。昆虫数量减少的最主要的原因是滥砍滥伐。新城建设以及土地农业化，致使许多昆虫生存的地方都消失了。另一个原因就是全球变暖。科学家称，在英国，甲壳虫、蝴蝶、蜜蜂和黄蜂的数量减少幅度达60%。许多国家都因蜜蜂和蝴蝶的消失而感到忧虑。

Scientists say the decline in insect populations will lead to many problems for humans. One of the biggest dangers is that there will be fewer insects to pollinate flowers. This means that farmers will have problems growing food. The lead author of the report, professor Rodolfo Dirzo, said falling numbers of insects could also lead to more disease in humans. He said rats and mice would have less food to eat so they will move to cities and bring diseases with them. Dr Ben Collen from London University said we needed to stop more insects from dying. He added that scientists must understand, "what species are winning and losing in the fight for survival". He said this knowledge would help us to protect the "helpful" insects.

科学家称，昆虫数量的减少会给人类带来许多问题。最大的威胁就是，给花朵授粉的昆虫会越来越少。这意味着农民种植粮食会有问题。报告的首席作者，鲁道夫教授称，昆虫数量的减少还会给人类带来更多疾病。他说，供老鼠食用的东西越来越少，老鼠就会跑到城市，并给城市带来疾病。伦敦大学的本.科伦博士称，我们需要阻止更多昆虫死亡。他还说，科学家必须要明白“在生存斗争中，哪些物种存活下来，哪些物种被淘汰了。”他说，这一知识会帮助我们保护益虫。

1 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 wasps   

黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人

参考例句：

• There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
• We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中，而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中

4 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。