2019年经济学人 减少温室气体排放(1)

减少温室气体排放(1)

Ancient Greek writings describe livestock¹ eating seaweed, as do Icelandic sagas².

古希腊文字中有关于家畜食用海藻的描述，冰岛的传奇故事中也有。

And, as the picture shows, sheep on North Ronaldsay, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, still graze on the stuff.

如图所示，在苏格兰奥克尼群岛的北罗纳德赛岛上，羊仍然以这种东西为食。

But that is now seen as unusual. It may not be in the future, however, as research conducted in Australia and New Zealand

但现在看来，这是不寻常的。但以后可能就觉得正常了，因为在澳大利亚和新西兰进行的研究表明

suggests algavory of this sort may reduce greenhouse-gas emissions³ from stock animals.

这种藻类可以减少家畜的温室气体排放。

The research in question is being co-ordinated by CSIRO, Australia's main science agency.

上述研究由澳大利亚主要科学机构联邦科学与工业研究组织（CSIRO）协调进行。

The project is looking into microbes that inhabit the stomachs of ruminants such as cattle and sheep.

该项目正在研究反刍动物（如牛和羊）胃中的微生物。

These bugs⁴ transform those animals' fibrous fare into energy-rich molecules⁶, some of which the host animal is able to absorb and utilise.

这些细菌将这些动物的纤维食物转化成能量丰富的分子，其中一些是宿主动物能够吸收和利用的。

One energy-rich molecule⁵ that is not absorbed, though, is methane⁷. Instead, the animals belch⁸ it into the atmosphere.

然而，有一种能量丰富的分子—甲烷，动物们不能吸收甲烷而是把它喷到大气中。

Which is a problem, because methane is a greenhouse gas that has a warming effect 28 times as powerful as carbon dioxide's.

这是一个问题，因为甲烷是温室气体，其温室效应是二氧化碳的28倍。

Since this loss of methane also deprives the host of the energy therein,

由于甲烷的损失也剥夺了宿主的能量，

thus probably reducing its growth rate, controlling methanogenic bacterial⁹ activity in ruminants looks like a beneficial twofer.

因此，控制反刍动物体内产甲烷细菌的活性或许能够降低其增长率，这似乎是一种有益的双重作用。

The antimethanogenic powers of Asparagopsis, the seaweed in question,

芦笋藻（上述所谈到的藻类）的抗甲烷产出能力

were discovered in 2016 and experiments involving it have been going on since then.

发现于2016年并且其相关试验持续至今。

One of the latest, published in October in the Journal of Cleaner Production,

其中最新的一篇发表在10月份的《Journal of Cleaner Production》上，

showed that dairy cows eating a diet containing 1% Asparagopsis produce only a third of the methane belched¹⁰ by cows on seaweedless diets.

该研究表明食用含有1%芦笋藻食物的奶牛产生的甲烷只有食用无海藻食物奶牛的三分之一。

1 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

2 sagas   

n.萨迦（尤指古代挪威或冰岛讲述冒险经历和英雄业绩的长篇故事）( saga的名词复数 )；（讲述许多年间发生的事情的）长篇故事；一连串的事件（或经历）；一连串经历的讲述（或记述）

参考例句：

• Artwork depicted the historical sagas and biblical tales for the illiterate faithful. 墙上的插图为不识字的信徒描绘了历史传说和圣经故事。 来自互联网
• It will complete one of the most remarkable transfer sagas in English football. 到时候，英格兰史上最有名的转会传奇故事之一将落下帷幕。 来自互联网

3 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

4 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

6 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

7 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

8 belch   

v.打嗝，喷出

参考例句：

• Cucumber makes me belch.黃瓜吃得我打嗝。
• Plant chimneys belch out dense smoke.工厂的烟囱冒出滚滚浓烟。

9 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

10 belched   

v.打嗝( belch的过去式和过去分词 )；喷出，吐出；打（嗝）；嗳（气）

参考例句：

• He wiped his hand across his mouth, then belched loudly. 他用手抹了抹嘴，然后打了个响亮的饱嗝。
• Artillery growled and belched on the horizon. 大炮轰鸣在地平面上猛烈地爆炸。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》