VOA科学技术2023 加拿大哈德逊湾的北极熊数量急剧下降（在线收听）

A new report suggests Canada's Western Hudson Bay polar bear population has dropped 27 percent during the past five years.

一份新的报告显示，加拿大西哈德逊湾的北极熊的数量在过去五年里下降了27%。

Every autumn, bears living along the western edge of the Hudson Bay pass through the sub-Arctic town of Churchill, Manitoba.

每年秋天，生活在哈德逊湾西部边缘的北极熊都会经过曼尼托巴省的亚北极小镇丘吉尔。

The yearly movement has helped make the area's bears one of the most studied groups in the world.

每年的迁徙活动使该地区的北极熊成为世界上最受科学家研究的群体之一。

Bear-watching adds about $5.3 million to the local economy each year.

观熊活动每年为当地经济带来约530万美元的收入。

But a report recently issued by the government in Canada's northern territory of Nunavut found that just 618 polar bears remained in the area in 2021.

但加拿大北部努纳武特地区政府最近发布的一份报告发现，2021年，该地区只剩下618只北极熊。

This represented a 50 percent drop in the population from the 1980s.

这意味着与20世纪80年代相比，北极熊的数量减少了50%。

Polar bears depend on frozen salt water, called sea ice, to help them hunt seals for food.

北极熊依靠冰冻盐水，即海冰，来捕食海豹。

But the Arctic is now warming about four times faster than the rest of the world.

但北极现在变暖的速度大约是世界其他地区的四倍。

Around Hudson Bay, seasonal sea ice is melting earlier in the spring, and forming later in the fall.

在哈德逊湾周围，季节性海冰在春初融化，在秋末形成。

This is forcing bears to go longer periods without food.

这迫使北极熊在更长的时间内没有食物。

John Whiteman is chief research scientist at the nonprofit conservation group Polar Bears International.

约翰·怀特曼是非营利保护组织“国际北极熊”的首席研究科学家。

Speaking to Reuters news agency, he called the population drop "totally shocking."

在接受路透社采访时，他称北极熊数量下降速度“完全令人震惊”。

Whiteman said scientists fear that if continued sea ice loss cannot be stopped, it will one day lead to a total loss of the area's polar bear population.

怀特曼说，科学家们担心，如果不能阻止海冰持续融化，总有一天会导致该地区的北极熊种群完全消失。

Scientists warned that a direct link between the population drop and sea ice loss in Hudson Bay is not fully clear.

科学家警告称，哈德逊湾的北极熊数量减少和海冰消失之间的直接联系尚不完全清楚。

This is because four of the past five years have seen reasonably good ice conditions.

这是因为在过去的五年中，有四年的冰况相当不错。

Experts say climate-caused changes affecting the local sea population might also be driving polar bear numbers down.

专家表示，影响当地海洋物种种群的气候变化可能也会导致北极熊数量下降。

Scientists are also concerned because the rate of population decline has sped up in recent years.

因为近年来北极熊数量下降的速度加快了，所以科学家们也很担心。

Between 2011 and 2016, for example, the polar bear population dropped just 11 percent.

例如，在2011年至2016年期间，北极熊的数量下降了11%。

There are 19 populations of polar bears spread out among Russia, Alaska, Norway, Greenland and Canada.

北极熊共有19个种群，分布在俄罗斯、阿拉斯加、挪威、格陵兰岛和加拿大。

But Western Hudson Bay is one of the southernmost populations.

但西哈德逊湾的北极熊是位于最南端的种群之一。

Scientists predict the bears there are likely to become among the first to disappear.

科学家预测，那里的北极熊很可能会成为第一批消失的北极熊种群之一。

A 2021 study in the journal Nature Climate Change found most of the world's polar bear populations are in danger of collapsing by 2100 if worldwide carbon emissions are not heavily reduced.

2021年发表在《自然气候变化》杂志上的一项研究发现，如果全球碳排放量不大幅减少，到2100年，世界上大多数北极熊种群都面临崩溃的危险。

Researchers said the number of deaths in young bears and female bears in Western Hudson Bay is worrisome.

研究人员表示，西哈德逊湾幼熊和母熊的死亡数量令人担忧。

"Those are the types of bears we've always predicted would be affected by changes in the environment," said Stephen Atkinson.

史蒂芬·阿特金森说：“我们一直预测，这类北极熊会受到环境变化的影响。”

He was a lead writer of the government report and has studied polar bear populations for more than 30 years.

他是这份政府报告的主要作者，他研究北极熊种群已有30多年。

Young bears need energy to grow and cannot survive long periods without enough food.

幼熊需要能量来生长，如果没有足够的食物，它们就不能长时间存活。

Female bears struggle because they use up a lot of energy caring for young bears.

母熊之所以挣扎，是因为它们照顾幼熊要耗费大量精力。

Atkinson said the ability of polar bears in the Western Hudson Bay to reproduce will decrease, "because you simply have fewer young bears that survive and become adults."

阿特金森说，西哈德逊湾的北极熊的繁殖能力将会下降，“因为存活下来并成年的北极熊幼崽会越来越少。”