《外刊精读》世界级景观大堡礁正在消失

50% 的珊瑚已死亡：世界级景观大堡礁正在消失 今日导读 在澳大利亚东部，有一片“珊瑚海”。在将近 2400 公里长的海域里，一条漫长的、色彩斑斓的珊瑚礁展现出了独属于海洋的惊心动魄的美。这便是世界遗产名录之一的大堡礁。然而，就在上周， 最新的澳大利亚“大堡礁普查”发现，近 30 年来，当地的珊瑚礁减少了 50%。如果不加以控制，这片寄居着大量珍稀生物的“海底王国”不久后可能会彻底消失。究竟是什么在威胁着珊瑚礁的生存？ 正文 The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its corals within 3 decades 近三十年来，大堡礁已失去了半数珊瑚 Australia's Great Barrier Reef has lost 50% of its coral populations in the last three decades, with climate change a key driver of reef disturbance, a new study has found. 一项新的研究发现，在过去的近三十年中，澳大利亚的大堡礁已经失去了其珊瑚总量的 50%，而气候变化是干扰珊瑚礁生态的主要因素。 Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, in Queensland, northeastern Australia, assessed coral communitiesandtheircolonysizealongthelengthoftheGreat Barrier Reef between 1995 and 2017, finding depletion of virtually all coral populations, they saidTuesday. 在澳大利亚东北部的昆士兰州，来自 ARC 珊瑚礁高级研究中心的研究者们评估了 1995 至 2017 年间大堡礁全线的珊瑚群落及其规模。本周二，他们称，评估结果表明，几乎所有种类的珊瑚数量都有减少。 Reefs are fundamental to the health of marine ecosystems — without them, ecosystems collapse, and marine life dies. 珊瑚礁对于海洋生态系统的健康至关重要，没了它们，生态系统就会崩溃，海洋生物继而死亡。 Population declines occurred in both shallow and deep water coral species, experts found, but branching and table-shaped corals — which provide habitats for fish — were worst affected by mass bleaching events in 2016 and 2017, triggered by record-breaking temperatures.*** 专家发现，浅水和深水类型的珊瑚数量都在减少，但是可以为鱼类提供栖息地的分支珊瑚和桌面珊瑚受 2016至 2017年间大规模白化现象影响最甚，而这种现象是由破纪录的高温引发的。 Warm ocean temperatures are the main driver of coral bleaching. Bleaching doesn't kill coral immediately, but if temperatures remain high,eventuallythecoralwilldie,destroyinganaturalhabitatfor many species of marine life. 海水温度升高是导致珊瑚白化的主要原因。白化不会立刻“杀死” 珊瑚，但是如果海水一直保持高温的状态，那么珊瑚最终会死亡， 这个许多海洋生物的自然栖息地因此被毁。 The Great Barrier Reef has suffered several mass bleaching events in the past five years, and experts said the southern part of the reef was also exposed to record-breaking temperatures in early 2020. 过去五年间，大堡礁已经遭受了几次大规模的白化事件。专家称， 2020年初，（海水的）高温再次打破纪录。这次，南部的珊瑚礁也受到了影响。 "We used to think the Great Barrier Reef is protected by its sheer size — but our results show that even the world's largest and relatively well-protected reef system is increasingly compromised and in decline," Terry Hughes, a distinguished professor at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said. “我们过去常常认为，大堡礁的巨大规模可以保护它自己，但现在，我们的研究结果显示，即使是世界上最大的、保护相对良好的珊瑚礁系统，也日益受到威胁，数量不断减少。”ARC 珊瑚礁高级研究中心的特聘教授泰瑞·休斯说道。 "There is no time to lose — we must sharply decrease greenhouse gas emissions ASAP," the report authors warned in the paper, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society journal.