新奇事件簿 人类行为导致地球损失一半的树木

There is good news and bad news regarding the number of trees on our planet. The good news is that there are seven times more trees on Earth than we thought. Until a few years ago, scientists estimated that the world had around 400 billion trees. However, a new study from Yale University estimates that there are around three trillion trees. That's a three followed by 12 zeroes. That means there are more than 420 trees for every person alive today. Lead researcher Dr Thomas Crowther told the BBC that the new estimate will not change anything. He said: "It's not like we've discovered a load of new trees. It's not good news for the world or bad news that we've produced this new number."

在全球树木数量方面，有好消息也有坏消息。好消息是全球树木数量比预想的要多七倍。就在几年前，科学家预测称，全球有大约4000亿棵树木。然而，来自耶鲁大学的一份最新研究预计，全球有大约3万亿棵树木，3后面有12个0。这就意味着每个人拥有420多棵树。研究主任Thomas Crowther博士告诉BBC，这项预测并不会带来任何改变。他表示：“我们并没有发现更多新树木。这对于全球来说既不是好消息也不是坏消息，因为数字是我们制造的。”

The bad news is that thousands of years ago, the earth had around six trillion trees. Human activity has cut in half the number of trees on the planet. A good example of this is the fact that Europe used to be one giant forest. Now much of it is farmland, fields, cities and towns. Dr Crowther said people are responsible for the loss of three trillion trees over the past several thousand years. Humans are destroying around 15 billion more trees every year because of deforestation and the demand for farmland. The scientists said this figure is "considerably¹ higher" than just a century ago. Dr Crowther warned that: "This study highlights how much more effort is needed if we are to restore healthy forests worldwide."

坏消息是数千年前，地球上有大约6万亿棵树木。由于人类活动，地球上的树木数量减少了一半。最好的例证是，曾经的欧洲就像是一片广阔的森林。如今，欧洲绝大多数都是农田、牧场、城市和城镇。Crowther博士称，过去的几千年，地球上损失了3万亿棵树木，人类要对此负责。由于人类对树木的砍伐，农田的需求，每年，人类会消耗大约150亿棵树木。科学家称这一数字比100年前要高很多。Crowther警告称：“这项研究侧重的是，若想恢复全球健康的森林状态，我们需要付出非常多的努力。”

1 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。