研究：第六次物種大滅絕進度比預想的快

最新研究指出，地球第六次物種大滅絕正在發生，而且正在加速推進。科學家們擔心，物種減少會對地球生態系統產生巨大影響，對人類的生存構成真正的威脅。

The sixth mass extinction is not a worry for the future. It's happening now, much faster than previously expected, and it's entirely our fault, according to a study published Monday.

第六次物種大滅絕並不是對未來的擔憂。根據本週一（6月1日）發表的一項研究，這一切正在發生，比之前預期的要快得多，而且完全是人類造成的。

Humans have already wiped out hundreds of species and pushed many more to the brink of extinction through wildlife trade, pollution, habitat loss and the use of toxic substances. But the findings published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) show that the rate at which species are dying out has accelerated in recent decades.

由於野生動植物貿易、污染、棲息地喪失和有毒物質的使用，人類已經導致數以百計的物種消失，並將更多的物種推向滅絕的邊緣。發表在《美國國家科學院院刊》上的研究結果表明，近幾十年來，物種滅絕的速度已在加快。

Gerardo Ceballos González, a professor of ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and one of the authors of the study, said approximately 173 species went extinct between 2001 and 2014.

墨西哥國立自治大學的生態學教授傑拉爾多·塞巴羅斯·岡薩雷斯是這項研究的作者之一。他說，在2001年至2014年間，大約有173個物種滅絕了。

"173 species is 25 times more extinct species than you would expect under the normal, background, extinction rate," he told cnn in an email. He and his team found that in the past 100 years, more than 400 vertebrate species went extinct. In the normal course of evolution, such extinctions would have taken up to 10,000 years, they said.

他在發送給美國有線電視新聞網的電郵中寫道：“這是正常物種滅絕速度下滅絕數量的25倍多。”他和他的團隊發現，在過去的100年裏，超過400種脊椎動物滅絕了。他們說，在正常的進化過程中，這樣的滅絕可能需要長達1萬年的時間。

vertebrate [ˈvɜːtɪbrət]：adj.脊椎動物（有關）的；有脊椎的

Mass extinctions are just as severe as their name suggests. There have been five mass extinction events in the Earth's history, each wiping out between 70% and 95% of the species of plants, animals and microorganisms. The most recent, 66 million years ago, saw dinosaurs disappear.

物種大滅絕正如其名字所暗示的那樣嚴重。在地球歷史上發生過五次大滅絕事件，每一次都導致70%到95%的植物、動物和微生物物種滅絕。最近的一次發生在6600萬年前，恐龍滅絕了。

The past events were caused by catastrophic alterations of the environment, including massive volcanic eruptions or collision with an asteroid. The sixth mass extinction -- the one happening now -- is different: Scientists say it's caused by humans.

過去的大滅絕事件是由環境的災難性變化引起的，包括大規模的火山爆發或小行星撞擊地球。而如今正在發生的第六次物種大滅絕則不同：科學家表示，這次大滅絕是由人類引起的。

"It is entirely our fault," Ceballos González said.

“這完全是人類的錯”，塞巴羅斯·岡薩雷斯說。

While life on Earth has bounced back after each of these events, it took millions of years to restore the number of species.

雖然地球上的生命在每一次大滅絕事件後都有所恢復，但物種數量的恢復卻要花費數百萬年的時間。

"Even though only an estimated 2% of all of the species that ever lived are alive today, the absolute number of species is greater now than ever before," the scientists said. "It was into such a biologically diverse world that we humans evolved, and such a world that we are destroying."

科學家們說：“儘管在所有曾經存在過的物種中，估計只有2%存活至今，但現在物種的絕對數量比以往任何時候都要多。我們人類就是在這樣一個生物多樣性的世界裏進化而來的，而我們正在摧毀這樣一個世界。”

Ceballos González and his colleagues said many of the species that are on the brink of extinction are concentrated in the same regions being decimated by human impacts.

塞巴羅斯·岡薩雷斯和他的同事說，許多瀕臨滅絕的物種都集中在被人類破壞的相同地區。

decimate [ˈdesɪmeɪt]：v.大量毀滅；大大削弱

[Photo by Zhang Cheng/For ]

When one species in the ecosystem disappears, it erodes the entire ecosystem and pushes other species toward annihilation. The researchers use amphibians as an example of this phenomena.

當生態系統中的一個物種消失時，它會破壞整個生態系統，並將其他物種推向滅絕。研究人員以兩棲動物爲例來說明這一現象。

annihilation [əˌnaɪəˈleɪʃn]：n.毀滅；潰敗

Hundreds of species of frogs and toads are suffering population declines and extinctions because of the chytrid fungus disease, which is sometimes spread into new areas by humans. Climate change is likely making the issue worse.

由於壺菌病，數百種青蛙和蟾蜍的數量正在減少和滅絕。壺菌病有時會被人類傳播到新的地區。氣候變化可能會加劇這一影響。

This interdependency of different species is bad news for humans, too.

不同物種之間的相互依賴對人類來說也是個壞消息。

The researchers also said the current coronavirus crisis shows how the recklessness with which people treat the natural world can backfire badly. Many of the species that are endangered or at the brink of extinction are being decimated by wildlife trade.

研究人員還表示，目前的新冠病毒危機表明，人們對待自然界的魯莽可能會嚴重地傷害自身。許多瀕危物種正因野生動植物貿易而大量死亡。

The researchers said this data highlights the urgency with which the world needs to act.

研究人員說，這一數據凸顯了世界採取行動的緊迫性。

Later this year, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is expected to set new global goals to combat the ongoing biodiversity crisis in the coming decades.

今年晚些時候，《聯合國生物多樣性公約》有望制定新的全球目標，以在未來幾十年應對正在發生的生物多樣性危機。