VOA慢速英語：研究發(fā)現溫室氣體使得糧食營養(yǎng)降低

Study: Planet-Warming Gasses Make Food Less Nutritious

研究發(fā)現溫室氣體使得糧食營養(yǎng)降低

A new study shows that rising levels of planet-warming gases may reduce important nutrients in food crops.

一項新的研究表明，溫室氣體可能會減少糧食作物中的重要營養(yǎng)物質。

Researchers studied the effects of one such gas -- carbon dioxide -- on rice. The researchers grew rice plants in a controlled environment. They set carbon dioxide levels to what scientists are predicting for our planet by the end of the century. They found that the resulting rice crops had lower than normal levels of vitamins, minerals and protein.

研究人員研究了其中一種氣體--二氧化碳對水稻的影響。研究人員在一種受控環(huán)境中種植水稻。他們將二氧化碳設置為科學家預測的世紀末地球上的二氧化碳水平。他們發(fā)現由此種出來的水稻作物的維生素、礦物質和蛋白質都低于正常水平。

The researchers said the effects of planet-warming gasses would be most severe for the poorest citizens in some of the least developed countries. These people generally eat the most rice and have the least complex diets, they noted.

研究人員表示，對一些最不發(fā)達國家的貧民來說，溫室氣體的影響尤為嚴重。他們指出，這些人通常食用了最多的大米，飲食結構最簡單。

A report on the study was published in the journal Science Advances.

該研究報告發(fā)表在《科學前沿》雜志上。

In the experiment, scientists grew 18 kinds of rice in fields in China and Japan. They pumped carbon dioxide gas over the plants in an effort to create the atmosphere of the future.

在實驗中，科學家們在中國和日本的田間種植了18種水稻。他們將二氧化碳吹過這些作物，以創(chuàng)造未來的大氣環(huán)境。

Rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions had, on average, 13 to 30 percent lower levels of four B vitamins and 10 percent less protein. The crops also had 8 percent less iron and 5 percent less zinc than rice grown under normal conditions.

在高濃度二氧化碳條件下生長的水稻含有的四種維生素B平均下降了13%到30%，蛋白質下降了10%。與正常條件下生長的水稻相比，這些作物的鐵含量低了8%，鋅含量低了5%。

However, vitamin E levels increased by about 13 percent on average.

但是維生素E含量提高了大約13%。

The results are bad news, "especially for the nutrition of the poorer population in less-developed countries," said the University of Tokyo's Kazuhiko Kobayashi, who helped to write the report.

這些都是壞消息，”尤其是對欠發(fā)達國家貧困人口的營養(yǎng)來說。“幫助撰寫報告的東京大學的小林和彥(Kazuhiko Kobayashi)這樣表示。

That includes about 600 million people in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos and other nations, mainly in Southeast Asia, the report said.

報告稱，這包括印尼、柬埔寨、緬甸、孟加拉國、老撾和其它國家的6億人，主要集中在東南亞。

Other studies have shown that higher temperatures from climate change and weather extremes will reduce food production. But scientists are finding that rising levels of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gasses threaten food quality.

其它研究表明，氣候變化和極端天氣造成的高溫將會降低糧食產量。但是科學家們開始發(fā)現，二氧化碳等溫室氣體濃度提高會威脅糧食質量。

Earlier studies showed that wheat, maize, rice, field peas and soybeans grown under high carbon dioxide conditions all had lower levels of protein and minerals. Scientists estimated that almost 150 million people might be at risk of having too little protein or zinc in their diet by 2050.

之前的研究表明，在高濃度二氧化碳條件下生長的小麥、玉米、水稻、豌豆和大豆蛋白質和礦物質含量都有所降低?？茖W家們估計，到2050年，有將近1.5億人可能面臨飲食攝入蛋白質和鋅不足的風險。

One of the scientists is Sam Myers of Harvard University in the American state of Massachusetts. He said that findings like this are an example of the surprises climate change creates.

其中一位科學家是美國馬薩諸塞州哈佛大學的薩姆·邁爾斯(Sam Myers)。他說，這類發(fā)現是氣候變化帶來意外的一個例子。

"My concern is, there are many more surprises to come," he said.

他說：”我擔心會有更多的意外來臨。“

Myers noted that pollution, loss of some species, destruction of forests, and other human activities are likely to produce unexpected problems. He said that you cannot completely change all the natural systems that living organisms have grown to depend on over millions of years without having effects come back to affect our own health.

邁爾斯指出，污染、某些物種的喪失、森林破壞以及其它人類活動可能會產生意想不到的問題。他說，人類沒法在改變生物數百萬年以來賴以生存的自然體系的情況下而不影響我們自己的健康。

The new study suggests a way to lower the nutritional harm of climate change.

這項新研究指出了降低氣候變化造成的營養(yǎng)危害的辦法。

One way, Kobayashi said, is to grow different forms of rice that have shown to be more resistant to higher carbon dioxide levels.

小林和彥表示，其中一種辦法是種植對高濃度二氧化碳已經表現出更強抗性的各種水稻。

I'm Phil Dierking.

菲爾·德爾金報道。