Warm Up
#帕劳禁用有害珊瑚礁的防晒霜# #2070年地球所有珊瑚礁或将消失# #澳大利亚珊瑚礁或将严重白化# #全球超一半珊瑚已死亡# #女科学家潜入海底种珊瑚#
数数去年珊瑚礁上过的热搜，珊瑚礁不仅是热搜的热门，还是托福雅思考试的热门。在托福2019年11月3号考试中，就考到了一篇关于珊瑚由于人类活动的影响变少，生存受到威胁的文章。雅思2019年1月26号也考了一篇关于珊瑚礁的文章。
珊瑚礁不仅有极大的观赏价值，它还是海洋的宝藏，维护着海洋的生态系统，但是全球变暖和海洋污染让珊瑚礁慢慢走向灭亡。。。。。
Words and Expressions
在正式阅读之前先熟悉单词吧~
revive /rɪˈvaɪv/ vt. 使复兴；使苏醒；回想起；重演，重播 vi. 复兴；复活；苏醒；恢复精神
Great Barrier Reef：大堡礁
concoction /kənˈkɑːkʃn/ n. 混合；调合；调合物
invertebrate /ɪnˈvɜːrtɪbrət/ n. 无脊椎动物；无骨气的人 adj. 无脊椎的；无骨气的
acidic /əˈsɪdɪk/ adj. 酸的，酸性的；产生酸的
algae /ˈældʒiː,ˈælɡiː/ n. [植] 藻类；[植] 海藻
symbiotically 共生地（生物学术语）
eject /ɪˈdʒekt/ 喷射；驱逐，逐出
bleach /bliːtʃ/ v. 漂白，晒白；（使）变成淡色；（使）失去活力；（使）失去实质内容；用漂白剂给……清洗，消毒 n. 漂白剂，消毒剂
carbonate /ˈkɑːrbənət/ v. 溶解碳酸盐；转成碳酸盐 n. 碳酸盐
ion /ˈaɪən,ˈaɪɑːn/ n. 离子
biodiversity /ˌbaɪoʊdaɪˈvɜːrsəti/ n. 生物多样性
buffet /bəˈfe; bʌfɪt/ n. 自助餐；小卖部；打击；猛烈冲击 adj. 自助的；自助餐的 vi. 斗争；奋勇前进 vt. 与…搏斗；连续猛击
mitigate /ˈmɪtɪɡeɪt/ v.使缓和，使减轻
sediment /ˈsedɪmənt/ n. 沉积；沉淀物
sewage /ˈsuːɪdʒ/ n. 污水；下水道；污物
debris /dəˈbriː/ n. 碎片，残骸
ranger /ˈreɪndʒər/ n.护林员; 公园管理员
levy(复数levies) /ˈlevi/ n. 征收额；征得的税；征收；财产扣押；征兵；所征来的军队
v. 征收（税、罚款）；向……征收税（或罚款）；征兵；发动战争
restoration /ˌrestəˈreɪʃn/ n. 恢复；复位；王政复辟；归还
drastic /ˈdræstɪk/ n. 烈性泻药 adj. 激烈的；猛烈的
head off 阻止；转移方向
deflect /dɪˈflekt/ vt. 使转向；使偏斜；使弯曲 vi. 转向；偏斜
radical /ˈrædɪkl/ n. 基础；激进分子；[物化] 原子团；[数] 根数 adj. 激进的；根本的；彻底的
Script
Coral reefs no longer in the pink
Corals are comeback creatures. As the world froze and melted and sea levels rose and fell over 30,000 years, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which is roughly the size of Italy, died and revived five times. But now, thanks to human activity, corals face the most complex concoction of conditions they have yet had to deal with. Even these hardy invertebrates may struggle to come through their latest challenge without a bit of help.
珊瑚是会卷土重来的生物。随着世界在这三万年的时间里进入冰川期又融化，海平面不断上升又下降，大约有意大利国土面积那么大的澳大利亚大堡礁，死而复生了5次。但是现在，由于人类活动，珊瑚面临着迄今为止最复杂的状况。即使是这些顽强的无脊椎动物在没有帮助的情况下也很难完成最近的挑战。
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a rise in global temperatures of 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial times could cause coral reefs to decline by 70-90%. The planet is about 1°C hotter than in the 19th century and its seas are becoming warmer, stormier and more acidic. This is already affecting relations between corals and the single-celled algae with which they live symbiotically, and which give them their colour. When waters become unusually warm, corals eject the algae, leaving reefs a ghostly white. This “bleaching” is happening five times as often as it did in the 1970s. The most recent such event, between 2014 and 2017, affected about three-quarters of the world’s reefs. Meanwhile the changing chemistry of the oceans lowers the abundance of carbonate ions, making it harder for corals to form their skeletons.
根据气候变化政府委员会的数据，全球气温较工业化前上升1.5摄氏度，可能会导致珊瑚礁减少70-90%。地球这颗行星的温度比19世纪高出约1摄氏度，海洋也正变得更温暖、更猛烈、更酸性。这已经影响到珊瑚和单细胞藻类之间的关系。单细胞藻类与珊瑚共生，并赋予它们颜色。当海水变得异常温暖时，珊瑚会排斥藻类，最后珊瑚礁变成幽灵般的白色。现在这种“漂白”现象的发生频率是20世纪70年代的5倍，最近一次“漂白”发生在2014年至2017年间，影响了全球约四分之三的珊瑚礁。同时海洋不断变化的化学成分也降低了碳酸盐离子的含量，会使珊瑚很难形成它们的骨骼。
If corals go, divers and marine biologists are not the only people who will miss them. Reefs take up a fraction of a percent of the sea floor, but support a quarter of the planet’s fish biodiversity. The fish that reefs shelter are especially valuable to their poorest human neighbours, many of whom depend on them as a source of protein. Roughly an eighth of the world’s population lives within 100km of a reef. Corals also protect 150,000km of shoreline in more than 100 countries and territories from the ocean’s buffeting, as well as generating billions of dollars in tourism revenue. In the Coral Triangle, an area of water stretching across South-East Asia and into the Pacific which is home to three-quarters of known coral species, more than 130m people rely on reefs for food and for their livelihoods in fishing and tourism.
如果珊瑚消失了，潜水员和海洋生物学家并不是会想念它们的人。珊瑚礁只占海底的一小部分，但却维护着四分之一的鱼类生物多样性。珊瑚礁所保护的鱼类对它们最贫穷的人类邻居来说尤其有价值，许多人都依赖它们获得蛋白质。世界上大约八分之一的人口生活在离珊瑚礁100公里的范围内。珊瑚还能保护100多个国家和地区的15万公里海岸线免受海洋的猛烈冲击，并可以创造数十亿美元的旅游收入。珊瑚三角洲是一个横跨东南亚至太平洋的水域，拥有四分之三的已知珊瑚物种，超过1.3亿人依靠这里的珊瑚礁来捕鱼和发展旅游业，以此生存。
Measures to mitigate climate change are needed regardless of coral, but even if the world’s great powers were to put their shoulder to the problem, global warming would not be brought to a swift halt. Coral systems must adapt if they are to survive, and governments in countries with reefs can help them do so.
不管珊瑚礁最后如何，缓解气候变化的措施都是必要的，但即使世界大国愿意承担起这个问题，全球变暖也不会迅速停止。珊瑚系统要想生存就必须适应，珊瑚礁国家的政府可以帮助它们适应。
Corals need protection from local sources of harm. Their ecosystems suffer from coastal run-off, whether sewage or waste from farms, as well as the sediment dumped from beach-front building sites. Plastic and other debris block sunlight and spread hostile bacteria. Chunks of reef are blown up by blast fishing; algae grow too much whenever fishing is too intensive. Governments need to impose tighter rules on these industries, such as tougher local building codes, and to put more effort into enforcing rules against overfishing.
珊瑚需要免受当地的破坏。他们的生态系统遭受着海岸径流，污水、农场的废物，还有从海滨建筑工地倾倒的沉积物的破坏。塑料和其他碎片阻挡阳光，传播有害细菌。大块的珊瑚礁被爆破捕鱼炸毁；当过度捕捞时，藻类肆虐。各国政府需要对这些行业实施更严格的规定，比如更严格的地方建筑法规，并加大力度执行禁止过度捕捞的规定。
Setting up marine protected areas could help reefs. Locals who fear for their livelihoods could be given work as rangers with the job of looking after the reserves. Levies on visitors to marine parks, similar to those imposed in parts of the Caribbean, could help pay for such schemes. So too could a special tax on coastal property developers.
建立海洋保护区可以帮助珊瑚礁。担心生计的当地人可以得到保护区管理员的工作。向海洋公园的游客征收费用，类似于加勒比部分地区，有助于支付此类计划的费用。对沿海房地产开发商征收特别税也是如此。
Many reefs that have been damaged could benefit from restoration. Coral’s biodiversity offers hope, because the same coral will grow differently under different conditions. Corals of the western Pacific near Indonesia, for example, can withstand higher temperatures than the same species in the eastern Pacific near Hawaii. Identifying the hardiest types and encouraging them to grow in new spots is a way forward, though an expensive one. A massive project of this sort is under way in Saudi Arabia as part of a tourism drive. Scientists working alongside the Red Sea Development Company want to discover why the area’s species seem to thrive in its particularly warm waters.
许多被破坏的珊瑚礁可以从修复中受益。珊瑚的生物多样性带来了希望，因为同一种珊瑚在不同的生长条件下会长得不一样。例如，西太平洋靠近印度尼西亚的珊瑚可以比东太平洋靠近夏威夷的同一种珊瑚承受更高的温度。尽管代价高昂，但是找出生命力最顽强的珊瑚类型并让他们在新的地方成长是一条可以向前推进的道路。作为旅游业发展的一部分，沙特阿拉伯正在大规模进行这类项目。与红海开发公司合作的科学家们希望能找到该地区的物种在其特别的温暖水域繁衍生息的原因。
More drastic intervention to head off the larger threats corals face should also attract more research.Shading reefs using a polymer film as a sunscreen to cool them is under discussion for parts of the Great Barrier Reef. Other schemes to help corals involve genetic engineering, selective breeding and brightening the clouds in the sky above an area of the reef by spraying specks of salt into the lowest ones, so that they deflect more of the sun’s energy. These measures may sound extreme, but people need to get used to thinking big. Dealing with the problems caused by climate change will call for some radical ideas.
为阻止珊瑚面临的更大威胁而采取的更严厉干预措施，也应该吸引更多的研究。人们正在讨论在大堡礁的部分地区，可以使用聚合物薄膜作为暗礁的防晒霜对其进行冷却。其他帮助珊瑚的方案包括基因工程、选择性繁殖和通过向的珊瑚礁喷洒盐点来照亮珊瑚礁上空的云层，从而使它们转移大部分太阳能量。这些措施听起来可能有些极端，但人们需要习惯于大处着眼。处理气候变化引起的问题需要一些激进的想法。
这篇文章中的词汇没有特别难，但是一些句子却比较难分析，建议大家先精读后泛读，至少读两遍。精读的时候不懂的单词要摘抄下来，仔细分析长难句。
本文英文部分来自《经济学人》，图片来自网咯，侵删。