到2100年，幾乎所有的珊瑚礁棲息地都將消失

到2100年，幾乎所有的珊瑚礁棲息地都將消失

As our planet warms, thousands of species will struggle to adapt, becoming confined to smaller spaces or dying out altogether. One group of life on Earth already feeling the heat, and projected to decline severely in the years to come, is corals. New research, presented at the 2020 Ocean Sciences Meeting, predicts that coral reef habitats may have disappeared almost entirely by 2100.

當(dāng)我們的星球變暖時(shí)，成千上萬(wàn)的物種將掙扎著適應(yīng)，被限制在更小的空間里，或者完全滅絕。地球上的一群生物已經(jīng)感受到了高溫，預(yù)計(jì)在未來(lái)幾年里將會(huì)嚴(yán)重衰退，它們就是珊瑚。在2020年海洋科學(xué)會(huì)議上提出的一項(xiàng)新研究預(yù)測(cè)，到2100年，珊瑚礁棲息地可能幾乎完全消失。

The key contributors, the researchers say, are warming waters and ocean acidification, both the result of human-driven climate change. The team believes that in the next two decades, we could lose between 70 and 90 percent of the world’s coral reefs, an alarming statistic.

研究人員說(shuō)，造成這種現(xiàn)象的主要原因是海水變暖和海洋酸化，這兩者都是人類(lèi)活動(dòng)導(dǎo)致的氣候變化。研究小組認(rèn)為，在未來(lái)20年里，我們可能會(huì)失去世界上70%到90%的珊瑚礁，這是一個(gè)令人擔(dān)憂(yōu)的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)字。

Corals are teeny marine creatures belonging to the same phylum as anemones and jellyfish. Some corals produce calcium carbonate, forming a hard, protective outer skeleton in which to live – this is what creates the stunning coral reefs we see in tropical oceans. Vast numbers of identical coral polyps can be found together, and most species form a symbiotic relationship with algae that provide them with important nutrients. Coral reefs provide food and homes for an enormous array of life; without these underwater rainforests, many reef-dwelling species could disappear.

珊瑚是微小的海洋生物，與海葵和水母屬于同一門(mén)。一些珊瑚會(huì)產(chǎn)生碳酸鈣，形成堅(jiān)硬的、保護(hù)性的外骨架來(lái)生存——這就是我們?cè)跓釒ШＱ笾锌吹降拿利惿汉鹘傅男纬稍颉４罅肯嗤纳汉飨x(chóng)可以在一起找到，大多數(shù)種類(lèi)與藻類(lèi)形成共生關(guān)系，為它們提供重要的營(yíng)養(yǎng)。珊瑚礁為大量的生命提供食物和家園;如果沒(méi)有這些水下雨林，許多居住在珊瑚礁的物種可能會(huì)消失。

The team behind the new research wanted to determine where coral restoration projects could have the most success. Restoration involves growing corals in a lab and then transplanting them into the ocean where they can grow and thrive. Adding fresh young corals to a struggling reef can help it recover to its original state.

開(kāi)展這項(xiàng)新研究的團(tuán)隊(duì)想要確定珊瑚修復(fù)項(xiàng)目在哪些地方最成功。修復(fù)包括在實(shí)驗(yàn)室中培育珊瑚，然后將它們移植到海洋中，在那里它們可以生長(zhǎng)和茁壯成長(zhǎng)。在掙扎的珊瑚礁中加入新鮮的年輕珊瑚可以幫助它恢復(fù)到原來(lái)的狀態(tài)。

However, when the researchers tried to map where best to focus these efforts, they reached a depressing conclusion. By the end of the century, close to zero suitable coral habitats will be left for conservationists to restore.

然而，當(dāng)研究人員試圖找出這些努力的最佳方向時(shí)，他們得出了一個(gè)令人沮喪的結(jié)論。到本世紀(jì)末，幾乎沒(méi)有合適的珊瑚棲息地留給自然資源保護(hù)主義者去恢復(fù)。

By 2100, it's looking quite grim, said Renee Setter, a biogeographer at the University of Hawaii Manoa, in a statement. Her team found that by 2045, most parts of the ocean where reefs dwell won’t be suitable for coral restoration. By 2100, only a handful of locations will be viable options, including pockets of Baja California and the Red Sea.

“到2100年，形勢(shì)看起來(lái)相當(dāng)嚴(yán)峻，”夏威夷馬諾阿大學(xué)(University of Hawaii Manoa)的生物地理學(xué)家蕾妮·塞特(Renee Setter)在一份聲明中說(shuō)。她的團(tuán)隊(duì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，到2045年，海洋中大部分珊瑚礁棲息的地方將不適合珊瑚恢復(fù)。到2100年，只有少數(shù)幾個(gè)地方將成為可行的選擇，包括下加利福尼亞和紅海。

Trying to clean up the beaches is great and trying to combat pollution is fantastic. We need to continue those efforts,” Setter added. “But at the end of the day, fighting climate change is really what we need to be advocating for in order to protect corals and avoid compounded stressors.

“清理海灘很棒，治理污染也很棒。我們需要繼續(xù)這些努力。“但歸根結(jié)底，為了保護(hù)珊瑚，避免多重壓力，應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化才是我們真正需要提倡的。”

When the water surrounding a reef heats up, the corals become stressed and eject their symbiotic algae, which removes their color and makes them much more susceptible to death. This process is known as bleaching and can turn entire communities of pink and orange corals a ghostly white.

當(dāng)珊瑚礁周?chē)暮Ｋ疁囟壬邥r(shí)，珊瑚就會(huì)感到壓力，并排出它們的共生藻類(lèi)，這會(huì)使它們失去顏色，使它們更容易死亡。這個(gè)過(guò)程被稱(chēng)為漂白，可以把整個(gè)社區(qū)的粉紅色和橙色的珊瑚變成幽靈般的白色。

While many factors affect the health of corals, the researchers believe that increasing acidity and temperature are the biggest contributors to their demise. They note that pollution has already impacted most reefs around the world, so it won’t have such a significant impact in future when compared to the effects of global warming, which is projected to get worse.

雖然有很多因素會(huì)影響珊瑚的健康，但研究人員認(rèn)為，不斷增加的酸度和溫度是造成珊瑚死亡的最大因素。他們指出，污染已經(jīng)影響了世界上大多數(shù)的珊瑚礁，因此，與全球變暖的影響相比，污染在未來(lái)不會(huì)有如此重大的影響，而全球變暖的影響預(yù)計(jì)會(huì)變得更糟。

To mitigate climate change, we must drastically reduce the amount of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide that we pump into the atmosphere. Otherwise, iconic aspects of the natural world, such as vibrant coral reefs and their inhabitants, will be lost forever.

為了減緩氣候變化，我們必須大幅減少向大氣中排放的二氧化碳等溫室氣體。否則，自然界的標(biāo)志性部分，如生機(jī)勃勃的珊瑚礁和它們的居民，將永遠(yuǎn)消失。