2006年VOA标准英语-Study Finds Direct Link Between Global War

By Mil Arcega
Washington, DC
13 January 2006
 
watch Frog Global report
 
  
  
A new study published in a prominent scientific journal has provided the first concrete evidence that global warming is contributing to the extinction¹ of dozens of plant and animal species worldwide.

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For over 25 years, scientists have speculated that rising temperatures, worldwide, is hastening the spread of disease and wiping out entire species.  And now a study in the journal "Nature", confirms it.  

Chart illustrates² correlation³ between global temperature and species disappearance  
  
Using data from 70 researchers around the world, a team led by American biologist Alan Pounds has discovered that spikes⁴ in global temperatures from the last 20 years have coincided exactly with the extinction of several frog species in Central and South America.

"There's a very clear relationship between temperature and the timing⁵ of the die-offs," says Mr. Pounds.

Conservationists have been perplexed⁶ by the worldwide decline of amphibians⁷, ever since the problem was first recognized in 1990.  Since then, at least 70 species of frogs have disappeared.  

Terry Root   
  
Stanford University biologist Terry Root says nearly a third of the world's 6,000 species of frogs, toads⁸, and salamanders are threatened. "I believe, as do a lot of biologists, that we are standing⁹ at the edge of a mass extinction."

Scientists say amphibians are in greater danger than any other group of animals because their permeable skins make them sensitive to environmental changes.  But researchers say thousands of plant and animal species are also at risk.  In rainforests, rare plants are blooming earlier, disrupting their natural reproductive cycles. And in the Arctic, polar bears are declining in numbers as rising temperatures threaten the ice floes they depend on for breeding.

 
Dr. Karen Master
  
Ecologist Dr. Karen Master says 18 to 35 percent of the world's plant and animal species could disappear in the next 45 years.

"Quite honestly the evidence is truly mounting that many fragile and wonderful and special eco-systems are at risk," she says.

And humans are not immune.  The World Health Organization estimates that 150,000 more people will die and more than five million others will get sick this year because global warming is helping¹⁰ to spread insect and water-borne disease.

The Earth's average temperature rose one degree in the 20th century and a group of United Nations scientists warn it could rise another ten degrees by the year 2100.

1 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。

2 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

3 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

4 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

6 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

7 amphibians   

两栖动物( amphibian的名词复数 )； 水陆两用车； 水旱两生植物； 水陆两用飞行器

参考例句：

• The skin of amphibians is permeable to water. 两栖动物的皮肤是透水的。
• Two amphibians ferry them out over the sands. 两辆水陆两用车把他们渡过沙滩。

8 toads   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All toads blink when they swallow. 所有的癞蛤蟆吞食东西时都会眨眼皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Toads have shorter legs and are generally more clumsy than frogs. 蟾蜍比青蛙脚短，一般说来没有青蛙灵活。 来自辞典例句

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。