TED演讲:我在太平洋底为珊瑚之死哭泣(5)

One of my favorite coral babies of all time showed up right after Hurricane Omar.

我最喜欢的珊瑚宝宝是Omar飓风之后出现的一个。

It's the same species I was studying before the storm, but you almost never see babies of this species -- it's really rare.

它跟我在飓风之前研究的珊瑚是同一种类，但是你可能从来不会看到这种品种的珊瑚宝宝——非常罕见。

This is actually an endangered species. In this photo, this little baby coral, this little circle of polyps, is a few years old.

实际上这是个濒危物种了。照片里这个珊瑚小宝宝，这小小的圆形触手，只有几岁大。

Like its cousins that bleach¹, it's fighting back the algae². And like its cousins on the north shore, it's aiming to live for 1,000 years.

像它已经白化的兄弟一样，它正在回击藻类。同时也跟它在北岸的表亲类似，它能够活一千年以上。

What's happening in the world and in the ocean has changed our time horizon.

这个世界上，这片海洋里发生的事情改变了我们的时间观念。

We can be incredibly pessimistic on the short term, and mourn what we lost and what we really took for granted.

我们可能在短期内极端悲观，为失去的悲痛，而事实也正是如此。

But we can still be optimistic on the long term, and we can still be ambitious about what we fight for and what we expect from our governments, from our planet.

但是我们始终可以在长远上保持乐观，而我们始终可以保持雄心壮志努力去拼搏，去要求我们的政府，去信任这个星球。

Corals have been living on planet Earth for hundreds of millions of years.

珊瑚已经在这个地球上生活了上亿年。

They survived the extinction³ of the dinosaurs⁴. They're badasses.

它们从恐龙大灭绝时代存活了下来。它们都不是善茬儿。

An individual coral can go through tremendous trauma⁵ and fully⁶ recover if it's given a chance and it's given protection.

一片珊瑚可以经历巨大的创伤然后完全的恢复，只要给它一个休养生息的机会和足够的保护措施。

Corals have always been playing the long game, and now so are we. Thanks very much.

珊瑚从来都是善于打持久战的。现在我们也需要。非常感谢。

1 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

2 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

3 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

4 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。