英語短文聽力:適應氣候變化

關於氣候變化,人們談論的已經很多了,也聽説了很多。氣候變化對於動植物來説是一個巨大的災難,因為它們再一次面對大自然的殘酷法則——適者生存。應屆畢業生考試網小編送上一篇關於動植物適應氣候變化的英語聽力文章,如需更多資源,請繼續關注應屆畢業生考試網。

英語短文聽力:適應氣候變化

We know global warming is bad: The temperature of the air on the Earth’s surface is projected to increase at a rate more rapid than any temperature change that has taken place in the last ten thousand years.

Since species have adapted to climate change in the past, why can’t they simply adapt to these changes?

Thanks to ecosystem changes due to agriculture anddeforestation and pollution, many species are already weakened to begin with. Plus, in the past, climate change has happened slowly enough that many species had enough time to shift the locations where they grow and reproduce. But the current projected rate of surface temperature change would require for plants to move at a rate of 3.5 miles per year. (The fastest plant species only migrate at the rate of 1.3 miles a year.)

Pick Up And Move?

Though they’re not quite as rooted, animals cannot just pick up and move to more inclement environs if their food source can’t move with them. And it doesn’t help that all of the different ways we use land means that the Earth is pretty much a mosaic of different ecosystems rather than larger, contiguous habitats.

So even if a species is able to migrate quickly enough, it has nowhere to go and nothing to eat. The Earth’s species simply don’t have enough time and resources to adapt to such rapid climate change, and that’s why many aren’t expected to survive if global warming continues at its currently projected rate.

眾所周知,全球氣候變暖是件壞事:地球表面的空氣温度預計正以一種前所未有的速度上升,甚至比過去十年所發生的氣温變化都要快。

既然物種能適應過去的氣候變化,為何它們就不能適應現在的變化呢?

由於農業生產、森林砍伐和污染導致生態系統發生變化,許多物種已經開始變得脆弱。此外,過去的氣候變化緩慢,很多物種有足夠的.時間移棲到新的地方繁衍生息。但目前地表温度變化速率預計要求植物以每年3.5英里的速度遷移(而移動速度最快的植物物種,每年也不過是1.3英里)。

説走就走?

儘管動物不像植物那樣根深蒂固,但假如他們的食物來源不能隨它們遷徙,它們也無法離開惡劣的環境。並且,我們利用土地的不同方式意味着地球並不是一大塊連續的棲息地,而變成了由不同生態系統拼接而成的馬賽克。這使得動物遷徙的可能性更小了。

因此,即便物種可以迅速遷徙,它們也無處可去、無物可吃。地球上的物種並沒有足夠的時間和資源去適應如此快速的氣候變化,故此,如果全球氣候變暖繼續以目前的預計速度變化,很多物種將無法生存。