2022年10月30日 VOA慢速英語：美國稱氣候變化正在威脅帝企鵝

 
The U.S. wildlife agency says Antarctica's emperor penguins are now threatened because of the effects of climate change.
美國野生動物機(jī)構(gòu)??表示，由于氣候變化的影響，南極洲的帝企鵝現(xiàn)在受到威脅。
 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently issued a warning that the species is in danger of disappearing, or becoming extinct, if steps are not taken to protect it.
美國魚類和野生動物管理局最近發(fā)出警告，如果不采取措施保護(hù)該物種，該物種將面臨消失或滅絕的危險。
 
The declaration officially calls for protections of emperor penguins under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
該宣言正式呼吁根據(jù)《瀕危物種法》（ESA）保護(hù)帝企鵝。
 
The flightless seabirds are native to Antarctica. But the U.S. agency said warming oceans linked to climate change have harmed the penguins' sea ice environment. The animals need sea ice to reproduce, hunt for food and avoid other creatures.
不會飛的海鳥原產(chǎn)于南極洲。但美國機(jī)構(gòu)表示，與氣候變化有關(guān)的海洋變暖已經(jīng)損害了企鵝的海冰環(huán)境。這些動物需要海冰來繁殖、尋找食物并避開其他生物。
 
Martha Williams is the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She said in a statement the listing of emperor penguins on the ESA demonstrates a "growing extinction crisis" affecting many species worldwide.
瑪莎威廉姆斯是美國魚類和野生動物管理局局長。她在一份聲明中說，帝企鵝在歐空局的名單顯示出影響全球許多物種的“日益嚴(yán)重的滅絕危機(jī)”。
 
"The listing of the emperor penguin serves as an alarm bell, but also a call to action," Williams said.
“帝企鵝的上市既是敲響了警鐘，也是行動的號召，”威廉姆斯說。
 
The wildlife agency said a major examination of available evidence suggests the penguins are not currently in danger of extinction. However, if carbon emissions continue to rise, temperatures will as well, leading to more sea ice destruction. This harm could result in the emperor penguins disappearing "in the foreseeable future," the agency said.
野生動物機(jī)構(gòu)??表示，對現(xiàn)有證據(jù)的重大檢查表明企鵝目前沒有滅絕的危險。然而，如果碳排放量繼續(xù)上升，溫度也會上升，導(dǎo)致更多的海冰破壞。該機(jī)構(gòu)表示，這種傷害可能導(dǎo)致帝企鵝“在可預(yù)見的未來”消失。
 
 
The agency's declaration followed a 2011 request by the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity to list the penguins under the ESA.
該機(jī)構(gòu)的聲明是在環(huán)境組織生物多樣性中心 2011 年要求將企鵝列入 ESA 的要求之后發(fā)表的。
 
Climate change has reduced reproduction rates in emperor colonies, the agency said. One example is the Halley Bay colony in the Weddell Sea, the second-largest emperor penguin colony in the world. Officials say several years of poor ice conditions in areas around the colony led to the drowning of all newborn penguins beginning in 2016.
該機(jī)構(gòu)表示，氣候變化降低了皇帝殖民地的繁殖率。一個例子是威德爾海的哈雷灣棲息地，它是世界上第二大帝企鵝棲息地。官員們表示，從 2016 年開始，該殖民地周圍地區(qū)數(shù)年惡劣的冰層條件導(dǎo)致所有新生企鵝溺水身亡。
 
The endangered declaration is designed to improve international cooperation for conservation efforts and increase financial assistance. The action also requires federal agencies in the United States to take steps to reduce extinction threats.
瀕危宣言旨在改善保護(hù)工作的國際合作并增加財政援助。該行動還要求美國的聯(lián)邦機(jī)構(gòu)采取措施減少滅絕威脅。
 
Shaye Wolf is the climate science director for the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity. She told Reuters news agency she sees the U.S. declaration as a warning that emperor penguins need "urgent climate action" in order to survive.
Shaye Wolf 是美國生物多樣性中心的氣候科學(xué)主任。她告訴路透社，她將美國的聲明視為帝企鵝需要“緊急氣候行動”才能生存的警告。
 
"The penguin's very existence depends on whether our government takes strong action now to cut climate-heating fossil fuels and prevent irreversible damage to life on Earth," Wolf said.
“企鵝的存在取決于我們的政府現(xiàn)在是否采取強(qiáng)有力的行動來減少氣候變暖的化石燃料并防止對地球上的生命造成不可逆轉(zhuǎn)的損害，”沃爾夫說。
 
 
The 1973 Endangered Species Act is credited with bringing several animals back from the danger of extinction. These include grizzly bears, bald eagles, gray whales and others. Some drilling and mining industries have opposed the act because it can halt development in areas considered necessary for species survival.
1973 年的《瀕危物種法》被認(rèn)為使幾種動物擺脫了滅絕的危險。其中包括灰熊、禿鷹、灰鯨等。一些鉆井和采礦業(yè)反對該法案，因為它可能會阻止物種生存所必需的地區(qū)的發(fā)展。