Adapting to Climate Change

选自听力文摘

Vocabulary：

 deforestation n. 采伐森林，森林开伐；
 environs n. 郊区，近郊

inclement adj. （天气）恶劣的（指寒冷的、潮湿的等 ）

mosaic n. 马赛克，镶嵌图案

contiguous adj. 接触的，邻近的

                                   Adapting to Climate Change

Adapt To Change?

We know global warming is bad: The temperature of the air on the Earth’s surface is projected to increase at a rate more rapid than any temperature change that has taken place in the last ten thousand years.

Since species have adapted to climate change in the past, why can’t they simply adapt to these changes?

Thanks to ecosystem changes due to agriculture and deforestation and pollution, many species are already weakened to begin with. Plus, in the past, climate change has happened slowly enough that many species had enough time to shift the locations where they grow and reproduce. But the current projected rate of surface temperature change would require for plants to move at a rate of 3.5 miles per year. (The fastest plant species only migrate at the rate of 1.3 miles a year.)

Pick Up And Move?

Though they’re not quite as rooted, animals cannot just pick up and move to more inclement environs if their food source can’t move with them. And it doesn’t help that all of the different ways we use land means that the Earth is pretty much a mosaic of different ecosystems rather than larger, contiguous habitats.

So even if a species is able to migrate quickly enough, it has nowhere to go and nothing to eat. The Earth’s species simply don’t have enough time and resources to adapt to such rapid climate change, and that’s why many aren’t expected to survive if global warming continues at its currently projected rate.

 

适应气候变化

适应变化？

众所周知，全球气候变暖是件坏事：地球表面的空气温度预计正以一种前所未有的速度上升，甚至比过去十年所发生的气温变化都要快。

既然物种能适应过去的气候变化，为何它们就不能适应现在的变化呢？

由于农业生产、森林砍伐和污染导致生态系统发生变化，许多物种已经开始变得脆弱。此外，过去的气候变化缓慢，很多物种有足够的时间移栖到新的地方繁衍生息。但目前地表温度变化速率预计要求植物以每年3.5英里的速度迁移（而移动速度最快的植物物种，每年也不过是1.3英里）。

说走就走？

尽管动物不像植物那样根深蒂固，但假如他们的食物来源不能随它们迁徙，它们也无法离开恶劣的环境。并且，我们利用土地的不同方式意味着地球并不是一大块连续的栖息地，而变成了由不同生态系统拼接而成的马赛克。这使得动物迁徙的可能性更小了。

因此，即便物种可以迅速迁徙，它们也无处可去、无物可吃。地球上的物种并没有足够的时间和资源去适应如此快速的气候变化，故此，如果全球气候变暖继续以目前的预计速度变化，很多物种将无法生存。