Emperor penguins

Virtually all emperor penguins doomed for extinction by 2100 as climate change looms, study finds

研究发现，到 2100 年，几乎所有帝企鹅都注定随着气候变化的逼近而走向灭绝

Nearly all of the world's emperor penguin colonies may be pushed to the brink of extinction by 2100, a new study has found, as the United States moves to list them as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

一项新的研究表明，到 2100 年，世界上几乎所有的帝企鹅群都可能会被逼至灭绝边缘。近来，根据《濒危物种法》，美国提议将帝企鹅列为受威胁物种。

If climate change continues at its current rate, more than 98% of emperor penguin colonies are expected to become quasi-extinct by the turn of the century. The scientists' near-term predictions were equally grim: they estimated at least two-thirds of colonies would be quasi-extinct by 2050.

如果气候变化以目前的速度继续下去，到下个世纪初，超过 98% 的帝企鹅群将会处在“准灭绝”状态。而科学家们的短期预测同样不容乐观：他们预计，到 2050 年，会有至少三分之二的帝企鹅群走向“准灭绝”。

Emperor penguins are the world's largest penguin species. A study published in 2020 estimated that there are about 280,000 breeding pairs worldwide, nearly all of which are in Antarctica. The species is especially vulnerable to climate change because, like polar bears in the Arctic, they depend on sea ice for vital activities including breeding, feeding, and molting.

帝企鹅是世界上体型最大的企鹅物种。一项发表于 2020 年的研究曾估算，当时世界上有近 28 万对仍在繁殖的帝企鹅，而它们几乎全部都生活在南极。帝企鹅对于气候变化尤其敏感，因为和北极熊一样，它们也依靠海冰来进行包括繁殖、喂养、换羽在内的必不可少的生命活动。

An emperor penguin colony in the Antarctic's Weddell Sea was effectively wiped out in 2016 because of record-low sea ice and early ice breakup. More than 10,000 chicks are thought to have drowned when the sea ice broke up before they were ready to swim.

2016 年，由于海冰数量创下历史新低、冰面过早解冻，位于南极威德尔海的一个帝企鹅群实际已遭灭绝。海冰裂开时，企鹅幼崽还未能下水游泳，据说有超过 1 万只小企鹅溺死在了海水之中。

The emperor penguins are a vital part of the Antarctic food chain, preying on krill, squid, and small fish and providing a source of food for leopard seals and killer whales. "Although they are found in Antarctica, far from human civilization, they live in a delicate balance with their environment, which today is rapidly changing — they have become modern-day canaries," for the effects of climate change, said Stephanie Jenouvrier, a lead author of the study.

帝企鹅是南极食物链中至关重要的一环，它们捕食磷虾、鱿鱼以及小型鱼类，同时，帝企鹅还是豹斑海豹和虎鲸的食物来源。谈及气候变化的影响时，该项研究的第一作者斯蒂芬妮·杰诺维耶说：“尽管帝企鹅身处远离人类文明的南极洲，但它们生活在一种与周边环境的微妙平衡之中。现如今，它们所处的环境正在迅速变化。它们已经成了现代意义上的金丝雀。”

主编：Hoby、菜菜

品控：Raven

审核：木子

重点词汇

doom

/duːm/

v. 使在劫难逃，使注定

英文释义：to make certain that sb. or sth. is going to suffer in some way

搭配短语：A dooms B to sth.

例句：Mounting debts doomed many factories to closure.

loom

/luːm/

v.（尤指形状模糊的庞然大物）阴森森地出现，逼近

例句：Suddenly a mountain loomed up in front of him.

例句：There is a crisis looming.

colony

/ˈkɑː.lə.ni/

n. 群落，生物集群；殖民地

brink

/brɪŋk/

n. 边缘

同义词：edge

搭配短语：the brink of sth.

搭配短语：the brink of the cliffs

搭配短语：the brink of collapse

搭配短语：the brink of law

threatened

/ˈθretnd/

adj. 受到威胁的，感到危险的

例句：I feel threatened.

搭配短语：a threatened species（受威胁物种）

词义辨析：threatened, endangered

threatened 所指的 “受威胁物种”包括任何可能在不久的将来灭绝的物种。endangered 所指的“濒危物种”虽然也包括在“受威胁物种”之内，但“濒危物种”面临的危机比“受威胁物种”更严重，现存数量一般也更少。

the turn of the century

世纪之交

相关词汇：turn（n. 两个时段交替的时间点）

搭配短语：the turn of the year = New Year（元旦）

grim

/ɡrɪm/

adj. 令人沮丧的；荒凉的；严肃的，满面愁容的

搭配短语：a grim city（荒凉的）

例句：Her face was grim.（严肃的）

搭配短语：grim news（令人沮丧的）

breeding

/ˈbriːdɪŋ/

n. 繁殖，交配（可用作定语，修饰名词）

相关词汇：breed（v. 交配，繁殖）

搭配短语：the breeding season（交配的季节）

be vulnerable to

易受到……的伤害

相关词汇：vulnerable（adj. 脆弱的）

例句：People with high blood pressure are vulnerable to diabetes.

例句：Children are vulnerable to abuse within their own homes.

vital

/ˈvaɪtl/

adj. 必不可少的；维持生命所必需的

搭配短语：the vital organs

molt

/moʊlt/

v. 换羽；蜕皮

例句：They'd love to see birds molting into their winter shades of grey.

effectively

/ɪˈfektɪvli/

adv. 实际上地，事实上地；有效地

例句：Although she's not officially our boss, she effectively controls the office.

wipe out

使灭绝；摧毁，毁灭

相关词汇：wipe（v. 擦净，抹干）

例句：The spill could wipe out the Gulf's turtle population.

相关词汇：wipe-out（n. 完全的毁灭，消灭）

搭配短语：a nuclear wipe-out

record-low

/ˈrekərd ləʊ/

adj. 创历史新低的

Emperor penguins

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