VOA慢速英語: 研究表明氣候變化影響著鳥類遷徙

Study Shows Climate Change Is Affecting Bird Migration
研究表明氣候變化影響鳥類遷徙
Recently, a small group of birdwatchers spent three weeks around Mount Vernon, the home of the first president of the United States, George Washington. They were busy counting wild birds on Mount Vernon’s wetlands, south of Washington, D.C. They began in the middle of December and worked until the beginning of January.
最近，一組鳥兒觀察者在美國第一任總統(tǒng)喬治華盛頓的家鄉(xiāng)——弗農(nóng)山附近觀察鳥兒。他們忙于統(tǒng)計(jì)弗農(nóng)山濕地和華盛頓特區(qū)南部的野生鳥類。十二月中旬，他們開始這項(xiàng)工作，會持續(xù)到一月初。
The birdwatchers were among 70,000 volunteers who collected information for the National Audubon Society, a U.S. conservation group. They counted birds in more than 2,400 areas in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean Sea and other parts of the Americas.
這些鳥類觀察人員是為美國一家保護(hù)組織——奧杜邦協(xié)會搜集信息的志愿者，這一組織的志愿者有7萬人。他們在美國、加拿大、加勒比海地區(qū)和美國其他一些地區(qū)等超過2400個地方統(tǒng)計(jì)這些鳥類。
The Audubon Society’s first “Christmas Bird Count” took place 115 years ago in 1900. At that time, a man named Frank Chapman suggested a new Christmas tradition -- that people count birds instead of shooting them around the holiday.
1900年，115年前奧杜邦協(xié)會第一次進(jìn)行“圣誕鳥類統(tǒng)計(jì)”。那時候，一位弗蘭克·查普曼建議增加一個新的圣誕傳統(tǒng)——在假日，人們應(yīng)該統(tǒng)計(jì)鳥類，不應(yīng)該射殺它們。
American Stuart Davis is a long-time birdwatcher and has even traveled to other countries in search of birds. He was excited about the birds he saw at Mount Vernon.
美國的斯圖亞特·戴維斯長期以來觀察鳥，他到別國旅行來尋找鳥。對于在弗農(nóng)山看到的鳥兒，他十分激動。
“They come in so many different shapes and sizes. Their feathers are so beautiful. They do remarkable things, like their acrobatic flying.”
“這些鳥兒形狀不同，大小不一，它們的羽毛很漂亮。它們能夠做各種有趣的動作，比如鳥兒的特技飛行。”
In the trees across the Potomac River, the small group of birdwatchers saw a bald eagle -- the national symbol of the United States. The bald eagle was once considered endangered, but its population has grown in recent years.
橫跨波托馬克河的樹上，有一組觀察鳥兒的人員，他們觀察美國的國鳥——禿鷹。禿鷹一度被認(rèn)為處于危險中，但是最近幾年禿鷹的數(shù)量有所增加。
Harry Glasgow has taken part in the Christmas Bird Count for the past 10years. This year, he was one of the volunteer birdwatchers at Mount Vernon.
哈里·格拉斯哥已經(jīng)加入到圣誕節(jié)數(shù)鳥這個活動中有10多年了。今年，他是弗農(nóng)山鳥兒觀察的一名志愿者。
“I think it’s a tremendous use of a lot of unofficial talent around the nation to keep track of birds. Birds are one of the surest indicators -- or barometers -- of the health of the ecology.”
“我認(rèn)為這是全國很大程度上使用非正式人員來跟蹤、觀察鳥兒。鳥兒是生態(tài)環(huán)境健康的指示物——或者說是晴雨表。”
Last year, the bird count recorded over 66 million birds of 2,403 different species.
去年，鳥類統(tǒng)計(jì)記錄6600萬只鳥，2403種不同種類的的數(shù)據(jù)。
Gary Langham is chief scientist with the National Audubon Society.
蓋瑞·郎漢姆是奧杜邦學(xué)會的首席科學(xué)家。
“The Audubon climate report says that half the birds in North America -- 314 out of 588 species -- are seriously threatened by climate change. The impacts sort of cut across all birds, all sizes, all kinds, all places.”
“奧杜邦學(xué)會的氣候報道稱北美588種鳥中大概有314種，接近一半的鳥類因?yàn)闅夂蜃兓艿絿?yán)重威脅。氣候變化影響到各個地方、不同種類、不同大小的鳥類。”
Information from the bird counts has shown that birds are staying farther north during the winter months because of warmer weather. Birdwatcher Jaime Reidy has noted the difference close to Washington, in the state of Virginia.
鳥類統(tǒng)計(jì)信息顯示因?yàn)闅夂蜃兣?，冬天，鳥類在北方地區(qū)待得時間更長了。鳥類觀察家杰米·瑞迪指出這種不同情況跟佛吉尼亞州的華盛頓地區(qū)情況相似。
“You get to see them at odd times of the year, a little earlier, staying a little later.”
“這一年你們能看到這些鳥的時間有點(diǎn)特別，它們來得更早，待的時間更長。”
Gary Langham says other conditions are affecting bird populations.
格雷·郎漢姆稱其他因素也會影響鳥類的數(shù)量。
“You can imagine the birds that live along the beach or along the rocky shoreline as sea levels are rising around the world. That is impacting them, you know, doubly so.”
“你可以想象隨著海平面的上升，世界各地待在海灘或者海岸線的鳥會受影響。氣候會極大地影響鳥類。”
David Yarnold is president of the Audubon Society. In his words, “Christmas Bird Count data is becoming important not only in documenting current climate change, but in predicting the future effects of climate change on North American bird populations. If we know what to expect, we can start taking actions now to do something about it.”
大衛(wèi)·亞諾德是奧杜邦學(xué)會的主席。用他的話說：“圣誕鳥類統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)不僅僅在記錄當(dāng)前的氣候變化方面越來越重要，而且在預(yù)示氣候變化對北美鳥類數(shù)量的未來影響方面也很重要。如果能夠預(yù)測到問題，我們現(xiàn)在就能采取行動做一些事情。”
I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.
我是凱利·簡·凱利。
This story was based on a report from VOA’s Deborah Block and information from the National Audubon Society. Hai Do wrote it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
conservation – n. the protection of animals, plants and natural resources
indicator - n. a sign that shows the condition or existence of something
species - n. a group of related animals or plants that is smaller than a genus
impacting - v. having a strong and often bad effect
doubly - adv. much more than usual or previously; to a much higher degree than usual; twice as much
documenting - v. creating a record of something through writing, film or photography
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