美国国家公共电台 NPR Opinion: Earth Has Survived Extinctions Before, It's Humans Who Are Fragile

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

It takes only a few paragraphs in Genesis for the Earth to take shape, sprout¹ with life and then human beings. Of course, that development actually took millions of years. This week, as the world watched a huge hurricane gather in the Earth's warming waters and wreak² terrible destruction on life in the islands of the Bahamas and other places, there was another humbling³ reminder⁴ that human beings really only play a supporting role in the history of the Earth. Scientists have uncovered what they call the Great Oxidation Event. They say it destroyed almost all life on Earth about 2 billion years ago, even before the rise and extinction⁵ of the dinosaurs⁶ a mere⁷ millions of years ago.

Malcolm Hodgskiss, a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford and co-lead author of the study, says researchers found barite, an ancient mineral, in rocks in Canada's subarctic. The rocks have chemical signatures locked inside that help scientists determine what the Earth's atmosphere was like when they were formed.

Scientists say the Earth's only living inhabitants about 2 billion years ago were microorganisms. But when they photosynthesized - that process that turns light into chemical energy - the tiny organisms saturated⁸ the Earth with oxygen - too much oxygen. The excess essentially⁹ poisoned the atmosphere for 80% to 99.5% of the organisms that then thrived on Earth and left the planet almost lifeless. Malcolm Hodgskiss told CNN, even our most conservative estimates would exceed estimates for the amount of life that died off during the extinction of the dinosaurs approximately 65 million years ago.

A character in Nevil Shute's 1957 novel "On The Beach" who contemplates¹⁰ the world being engulfed¹¹ by nuclear radiation tells a friend, it's only the end of us. The world will go on just the same, only we shan't be in it. I dare say it will get along all right without us.

A new scientific study and actual events reminded us this week that the Earth endures. It's us, all the living things that inhabit it for a while, who are fragile and who know our time is fleeting¹². The microorganisms that preceded us millions of years ago didn't know what was happening to the Earth as they lived or what could happen to them because of it. There was nothing they could do. We know what's happening on this Earth all around us. We know what we can do.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JUST ANOTHER DAY")

BRIAN ENO: (Singing) One day, we will put it all behind. We'll say that was just another time. We'll say that was just another day on Earth.

1 sprout   

n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条

参考例句：

• When do deer first sprout horns?鹿在多大的时候开始长出角？
• It takes about a week for the seeds to sprout.这些种子大约要一周后才会发芽。

2 wreak   

v.发泄；报复

参考例句：

• She had a burning desire to wreak revenge.她复仇心切。
• Timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.怯懦的人总是把满腹牢骚向温和的人发泄。

3 humbling   

adj.令人羞辱的v.使谦恭( humble的现在分词 )；轻松打败（尤指强大的对手）；低声下气

参考例句：

• A certain humbling from time to time is good. 不时受点儿屈辱是有好处的。 来自辞典例句
• It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-buildingexperience. 据说天文学是一种令人产生自卑、塑造人格的科学。 来自互联网

4 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

5 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。

6 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》

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 contemplates   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的第三人称单数 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• She contemplates leaving for the sake of the kids. 她考虑为了孩子而离开。
• Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them. 事物的美存在于细心观察它的人的头脑中。

11 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。