新奇事件簿 昆蟲數(shù)量銳減威脅人類安全

The number of insects in the world has fallen by 45 per cent in the past 35 years. Scientists say this could be dangerous for humans. A report on insect numbers has been published in the journal ‘Science'. It says the human population has doubled since 1980 while the number of insects has nearly halved. One of the biggest reasons for this loss of insects is deforestation. Many of the places where insects live are disappearing because of new cities and land being used for farming. Another reason is global warming. Scientists say that in the UK, the number of beetles, butterflies, bees and wasps has fallen by up to 60 per cent. Many countries are worried about the disappearance of bees and butterflies.

在過去的35年里，世界上昆蟲的數(shù)量減少了45%?？茖W(xué)家稱，這會給人類帶來危險?！犊茖W(xué)》雜志發(fā)表了一則關(guān)于昆蟲數(shù)量的報告。報告稱，自1980年以來，人類的數(shù)量翻倍，而昆蟲的數(shù)量卻幾乎減半。昆蟲數(shù)量減少的最主要的原因是濫砍濫伐。新城建設(shè)以及土地農(nóng)業(yè)化，致使許多昆蟲生存的地方都消失了。另一個原因就是全球變暖?？茖W(xué)家稱，在英國，甲殼蟲、蝴蝶、蜜蜂和黃蜂的數(shù)量減少幅度達60%。許多國家都因蜜蜂和蝴蝶的消失而感到憂慮。

Scientists say the decline in insect populations will lead to many problems for humans. One of the biggest dangers is that there will be fewer insects to pollinate flowers. This means that farmers will have problems growing food. The lead author of the report, professor Rodolfo Dirzo, said falling numbers of insects could also lead to more disease in humans. He said rats and mice would have less food to eat so they will move to cities and bring diseases with them. Dr Ben Collen from London University said we needed to stop more insects from dying. He added that scientists must understand, "what species are winning and losing in the fight for survival". He said this knowledge would help us to protect the "helpful" insects.

科學(xué)家稱，昆蟲數(shù)量的減少會給人類帶來許多問題。最大的威脅就是，給花朵授粉的昆蟲會越來越少。這意味著農(nóng)民種植糧食會有問題。報告的首席作者，魯?shù)婪蚪淌诜Q，昆蟲數(shù)量的減少還會給人類帶來更多疾病。他說，供老鼠食用的東西越來越少，老鼠就會跑到城市，并給城市帶來疾病。倫敦大學(xué)的本.科倫博士稱，我們需要阻止更多昆蟲死亡。他還說，科學(xué)家必須要明白“在生存斗爭中，哪些物種存活下來，哪些物種被淘汰了。”他說，這一知識會幫助我們保護益蟲。