南極洲帽帶企鵝數(shù)量下降超過75%

南極洲帽帶企鵝數(shù)量下降超過75%

The number of chinstrap penguins in some colonies in Western Antarctica has fallen by as much as 77% since they were last surveyed in the 1970s, say scientists studying the impact of climate change on the remote region.

研究氣候變化對偏遠地區(qū)影響的科學家說，自上世紀70年代進行最后一次調(diào)查以來，南極洲西部一些殖民地的帽帶企鵝數(shù)量下降了77%。

The chinstrap penguin, named after the narrow black band under its head, inhabits the islands and shores of the Southern Pacific and Antarctic Oceans and feeds on krill.

帽帶企鵝，以其頭部下方狹窄的黑色帶命名，棲息在南太平洋和南極海洋的島嶼和海岸，以磷蝦為食。

“The declines that we’ve seen are definitely dramatic,” said Steve Forrest, a conservation biologist who joined a team of scientists from the two U.S. universities of Stony Brook and Northeastern on an Antarctic expedition that has just ended.

“我們看到的下降絕對是驚人的，”史蒂夫·福雷斯特(Steve Forrest)說。他是一名保護生物學家，與來自美國石溪分校(Stony Brook)和東北大學(Northeastern university)兩所大學的科學家組成的團隊一起參加了剛剛結(jié)束的南極考察。

“Something is happening to the fundamental building blocks of the food chain here. We’ve got less food abundance that’s driving these populations down lower and lower over time and the question is, is that going to continue?”

“這里的食物鏈的基本構(gòu)件正在發(fā)生變化。隨著時間的推移，我們的食物越來越少，導致這些種群數(shù)量越來越少，問題是，這種情況會持續(xù)下去嗎?”

The scientists, traveling on two Greenpeace ships, the Esperanza and the Arctic Sunrise, conducted their expedition to Western Antarctica from Jan. 5 to Feb. 8, and used manual and drone surveying techniques to assess the scale of the damage.

這些科學家乘坐“世界語”號和“北極日出”號這兩艘綠色和平組織的船只，于1月5日至2月8日對南極洲西部進行了考察，并使用人工和無人機測量技術(shù)評估了損失的規(guī)模。

The number of chinstraps at one important habitat in the region, Elephant Island, has plummeted by around 60% since the last survey in 1971, to fewer than 53,000 breeding pairs today, the expedition found.

探險隊發(fā)現(xiàn)，自1971年最后一次調(diào)查以來，該地區(qū)一個重要棲息地象島(Elephant Island)的頦帶數(shù)量銳減了約60%，目前不到53,000對。

“While several factors may have a role to play, all the evidence we have points to climate change as being responsible for the changes we are seeing,” said Heather Lynch, associate professor of ecology and evolution at Stony Brook University.

石溪大學(Stony Brook University)生態(tài)學和進化學副教授希瑟•林奇(Heather Lynch)表示:“雖然可能有幾個因素在起作用，但我們掌握的所有證據(jù)都表明，氣候變化是我們所看到的變化的原因。”

The World Meteorological Organization said last week that a research base in Antarctica had recorded the hottest temperature ever for the continent – 64.94 degrees Fahrenheit – as global warming causes an increase in melting of the ice sheets around the south pole.

世界氣象組織上周表示，由于全球變暖導致南極冰蓋融化加劇，南極的一個研究基地已經(jīng)記錄到南極大陸有史以來最高的溫度——64.94華氏度。