VOA科学技术2023 气候问题促使科学家将物种迁移到新的地区（在线收听）

Climate Concerns Push Scientists to Move Species to New Areas

气候问题促使科学家将物种迁移到新的地区

Scientists increasingly are aiming to move animals threatened by rising temperatures to new areas where they never lived before in an effort to save them.

科学家们越来越多地试图将受气温升高威胁的动物转移到它们从未生活过的新地区，以拯救它们。

One example is a project in Hawaii that moved, or relocated, a seabird species from one island to another about 800 kilometers away.

一个例子是夏威夷的一个项目，该项目将一种海鸟从一个岛屿迁移到约800公里外的另一个岛屿。

Traditionally, scientists have considered the idea of species relocations risky. This is because it can cause problems for existing native animals.

传统上，科学家认为物种迁移的想法有风险。这是因为它会给现有的本地动物带来问题。

But some scientists now believe such relocations are necessary to save threatened species. Moves have already been considered for several species, including birds, lizards, butterflies and even plants.

但一些科学家现在认为，这样的迁移对于拯救受威胁的物种是必要的。包括鸟类、蜥蜴、蝴蝶甚至植物在内的一些物种已经考虑过迁移。

The relocation in Hawaii involved the Tristram's storm petrel, a seabird that is native to low-lying islands in Hawaii and Japan.

夏威夷的搬迁涉及到特里斯特瑞姆号的风暴海燕，一种原产于夏威夷和日本低洼岛屿的海鸟。

The project moved about 40 young birds from Hawaii's Tern Island to Oahu, one of the state's biggest islands. The Tristram's storm petrel is considered at risk of disappearing completely.

该项目将约40只幼鸟从夏威夷的特伦岛迁移到该州最大的岛屿之一的瓦胡岛。特里斯特雷姆的风暴海燕被认为有完全消失的风险。

Tern Island is currently just 1.8 meters above sea level. Scientists fear the island may disappear completely if the sea level there continues to rise.

特伦岛目前海拔仅1.8米。科学家们担心，如果那里的海平面继续上升，该岛可能会完全消失。

"Tern Island is washing away," said biologist Eric VanderWerf of the nonprofit group Pacific Rim Conservation. "Climate change is causing a greater need for this — for taking a species outside its known historical range."

“特伦岛正在被冲走，”非营利组织环太平洋保护组织的生物学家埃里克·范德沃夫说。“气候变化导致了对这一点的更大需求——将一个物种纳入已知历史范围之外。”

Scientists hope the relocated animals can someday be returned to their native environments if conditions change.

科学家们希望，如果条件发生变化，这些被迁移的动物有朝一日能够回到它们的原生环境。

A proposal by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden would change the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The law aims to protect rare animals and plants. The change would make it easier to move some of the most threatened species to places where they have not been known to exist before.

美国总统乔·拜登政府的一项提案将改变《美国濒危物种法》。该法律旨在保护珍稀动植物。这一变化将使一些最受威胁的物种更容易迁移到以前不存在的地方。

As a reaction to that proposal, state wildlife officials and scientists have suggested moving populations of some species. These include the Key deer of southern Florida and the Karner blue butterfly from the Midwest and Northeast. In addition, officials are suggesting moving desert flowering plants in Nevada and California and the St. Croix ground lizard in the Virgin Islands.

作为对该提议的回应，州野生动物官员和科学家建议迁移一些物种的种群。其中包括佛罗里达州南部的Key鹿和中西部和东北部的Karner蓝蝴蝶。此外，官员建议在内华达州和加利福尼亚州迁移沙漠开花植物，在维尔京群岛迁移圣克罗伊地蜥。

Republican lawmakers in western states – including Montana, New Mexico and Arizona – are against the proposal. They say moving species to new places could create environmental problems and result in an "invasive species."

包括蒙大拿州、新墨西哥州和亚利桑那州在内的西部各州的共和党议员反对这项提案。他们说，将物种迁移到新的地方可能会造成环境问题，并导致“入侵物种”

Federal officials are expected to finalize the proposal in June. Jason McLachlan is a biologist at the University of Notre Dame in the state of Indiana. He told The Associated Press he thinks the government proposal demonstrates an important change "in the way we think of species protection and conservation."

联邦官员预计将于6月敲定该提案。杰森·麦克拉克兰是印第安纳州圣母大学的生物学家。他告诉美联社，他认为政府的建议表明“我们对物种保护和保护的看法”发生了重大变化

McLachlan said the issue goes beyond endangered species. He thinks it also raises questions about what should be considered "native" now that changing temperatures are pushing some species to seek out higher areas or move toward the planet's North or South.

麦克拉克兰说，这个问题超出了濒危物种的范畴。他认为，这也引发了关于什么应该被视为“本土”的问题，因为不断变化的温度正在推动一些物种寻找更高的地区，或者向地球的北方或南方移动。

He said comparable temperature changes in the past happened over thousands of years. But the current one is taking place over a shorter period and this has harmed ecosystems. "Eventually we're going to have to start thinking about it in ways that will make people...uncomfortable," McLachlan said. "To say this species is OK and this species is not OK, that's asking a lot of human beings."

他说，数千年来，过去的气温变化相当。但目前的情况发生的时间更短，这已经损害了生态系统。麦克拉克兰说：“最终，我们将不得不开始考虑让人们……不舒服的方式。”。“说这个物种可以，这个物种不可以，这是在问很多人类。”

Pacific Rim Conservation's VanderWerf told the AP that to save storm petrels, scientists need to act before populations have crashed. "In 30 years, these birds will certainly be rare, if we don't do something about it," he said.

环太平洋保护组织的范德沃夫告诉美联社，为了拯救风暴海燕，科学家们需要在种群崩溃之前采取行动。“如果我们不采取措施，30年后，这些鸟肯定会很稀少，”他说。

James Watson is a scientist at the University of Queensland in Australia. He said, "Many, many species" must be moved or they could go out of existence. Watson added that increasing wildfires have forced some relocations of animals.

詹姆斯·沃森是澳大利亚昆士兰大学的科学家。他说，“很多很多物种”必须被迁移，否则它们可能会消失。沃森补充说，越来越多的野火迫使一些动物迁移。

"This kind of intensive management is necessary for us to have a reasonable shot at holding ... some species," said Don Lyons, with the National Audubon Society's Seabird Institute.

国家奥杜邦学会海鸟研究所的唐·莱昂斯说：“这种密集的管理对于我们合理地控制……某些物种是必要的。”。

Words in This Story

species – n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

物种，种类--一组相似的动物或植物，可以产生幼兽或植物

range – n. a group of different things of the same general type

范围--一组具有相同一般类型的不同事物

invasive – adj. moving into all areas of something and difficult to stop

侵入性的--移动到某事物的所有区域并且难以停止

conservation – n. an organized effort that aims to protect animals, plants and natural resources

保护--旨在保护动物、植物和自然资源的有组织的努力

ecosystem – n. everything that exists in a particular environment

生态系统--存在于特定环境中的一切

uncomfortable – adj. not feeling comfortable and pleasant

不舒服的--感觉不舒服

management – n. the control and organization of something

管理--事物的控制和组织