地球一半物種正在滅絕 川普當總統雪上加霜

Nearly half the species on the planet are failing to cope with global warming the world has already experienced, according to an alarming new study that suggests the sixth mass extinction of animal life in the Earth's history could take place in as little as 50 years.

一項令人震驚的最新研究表明，地球上近一半的物種無法應對當前發生的全球變暖，地球離史上第六次物種大滅絕可能只有50年了。

A leading evolutionary biologist, Professor John Wiens, found that 47 percent of nearly 1,000 species had suffered local extinctions linked to climate change with populations absent from areas where they had been found before.

約翰.韋恩斯教授是一位傑出的進化生物學家，他發現在近1000種物種中，有47%的物種出現了與氣候變化相關的局部滅絕，一些物種在他們原來生存的區域消失了。

Professor Wiens, who is editor of the Quarterly Review of Biology and a winner of the American Society of Naturalists' Presidential Award, said the implications for the future were serious because his review showed plants and animals were struggling to deal with the relatively small amount of global warming experienced to date.

韋恩斯教授是《生物學季刊》的編輯，也是《美國博物學家》雜誌主席獎的獲得者。他認爲，種種跡象表明未來的局勢十分嚴峻，因爲研究顯示，動植物正勉強應對着當前相對輕微的全球變暖問題。

So far the world has warmed by about 1℃ above pre-industrial levels, but it is expected to hit between 2.6 and 4.8C by 2100 if nothing is done to reduce greenhouse gases.

與工業化前相比，全球氣溫目前爲止已經升高了1℃，但如果不減少溫室氣體，那麼到2100年氣溫將升高2.6℃至4.8℃。

Another problem facing life on Earth is the election of climate science denier Donald Trump as US president.

地球生物面臨的另一個麻煩是，氣候科學否定者唐納德.特朗普當選美國總統。

Professor Wiens, of Arizona University, described this as a "global disaster" and, when asked what he would say to the President-elect if he met him, he joked grimly: "Kill yourself immediately."

在亞利桑那州立大學執教的韋恩斯稱，特朗普當選是一場“全球性災難”，當被問及如果遇見這位候任總統想對他說點什麼時，韋恩斯開玩笑道：“趕緊狗帶吧。”

In his study, published in the journal PLOS Biology, the scientist examined academic papers about 976 different species from all over the world that had been studied at least twice, once about 50 years ago and again within the last 10 years.

韋恩斯的研究被髮表在《公共科學圖書館.生物學》期刊上，他查閱了全球976個不同物種的相關學術論文。這些物種至少都被研究過兩次，一次是在約50年前，另一次是在近10年內。

"In almost half the species looked at, there have been local extinctions already," he said.

他說，“接近一半的被觀察物種已經局部滅絕。”

"What it shows is species cannot change fast enough to keep up with a small change in climate. That's the big implication - even a small change in temperature and they cannot handle it."

“這說明生物的進化速度跟不上輕微的氣候變化。這背後的重大寓意是——氣溫即使發生一點變化這些生物也無法適應。”

The study looked at 716 different kinds of animals and 260 plants from Asia, Europe, North and South America, and elsewhere.

該研究觀察了來自亞洲、歐洲、北美、南美以及其他地區的716種不同動物和260種不同植物。

There were few areas of the planet that were unaffected.

地球上很少有未受影響的地區。

The current rate of global extinction of animals and plants is believed to be faster than some of the five great extinction events in the Earth's history, but so far the total number lost does not compare to the species lost when the dinosaurs were wiped out about 65 million years ago.

人們認爲，與地球歷史上前五次物種大滅絕中的幾次相比，目前全球動植物的滅絕速度要更迅速，但是目前爲止滅絕的物種數還無法與6500萬年前恐龍滅絕時期的數量相提並論。

However one reason geologists are considering declaring a new epoch in the planet's history is the rapid loss of flora and fauna that will have a noticeable effect on the fossil record.

不過，動植物的迅速滅絕將對化石記錄產生顯著影響，這是地質學家們正考慮宣告地球歷史迎來新紀元的一個原因。

Professor Wiens said: "It's true that in terms of global extinction of entire species that have already happened, I think we're not there [at the sixth mass extinction] yet.

韋恩斯教授稱，“就全球所有物種發生滅絕的情況而言，我認爲第六次物種大滅絕的確還沒有發生。”

"But I think unfortunately we are on track for that to happen.

“但不幸的是，我認爲事情正朝着這個方向發展。”

There were already "two bad signs" that Mr Trump's election would make things worse, Professor Wiens said.

韋恩斯稱，已經有“兩個壞跡象”顯示，特朗普當選會讓事情雪上加霜。

"One would be this person he's assigned to head the EPA (renowned climate science denier Scott Pruitt) and the other thing is pulling out of the Paris accord," he said.

“其一是特朗普任命的環保局局長（出名的反氣候科學者斯考特.普魯伊特），另一件事就是退出《巴黎協定》。”

Asked what he would really say to Mr Trump if they met, Professor Wiens said: "I guess I would tell him 'what would you think if there was a country on the other side of the world that was releasing gas that was going to cause extinctions in our country, to hurt our crops and make people starve'.

在被問及如果二人相遇他會對特朗普真正說些什麼時，韋恩斯教授說：“我想我會問他‘如果在世界的另一邊，有一個國家正在排放的氣體將使美國的物種滅絕，農作物遭到破壞，讓人們餓死，你對此怎麼看’”。

"He would say, 'tell me where it is and we'll bomb them tomorrow'. Then I'd say, 'this is what we're doing to other countries because we are the big polluters.'

“他會說，‘告訴我是哪個國家，明天我們就炸了那裏’。然後我會說，“這就是我們正在對其他國家做的事情，因爲我們就是最大的排污國。”