Antarctica's plastic threat 科学家称微塑料污染已给南极海域造成威胁

学习要点

和“the environment 环境”有关的词汇

边看边答

Scientists use a 'manta' to collect samples. What is it?

文字稿

This is the most remote continent on Earth. It looks pristine, but today there's new evidence that microplastics are now reaching even these waters and perhaps more disturbingly there is also pollution from airborne chemicals in freshly fallen snow.

这是地球上最偏远的大陆。它虽然看起来一尘不染，但现在新证据显示，微塑料已蔓延到了这片海域，也许令人更加不安的是，在刚落下的雪片中也含有弥漫在空气中化学污染物。

We were with scientists on board a Greenpeace ship in January as they began testing waters off the Antarctic Peninsula. Very little data exists. It's a question of picking a tiny bit of the Southern Ocean and lowering in a manta, a trawling device. Any microplastics should find their way into the net.

今年一月，我们和一组着手测试南极半岛周边水质的科学家一起登上了绿色和平组织的一艘船。相关数据微乎其微。问题的关键是选南冰洋中很小的一部分，把形似蝠鲼的拖网装置放入水里。这样，任何微塑料成分都会被收入网中。

The team searched some of the most isolated places on the planet. They also hunted for pollution on land, gathering samples of freshly fallen snow. We didn't know it at the time, but even here, deposited either as a gas or in dust, were molecules of man-made chemicals.

该科研小组在地球最孤僻的地区开展过搜索活动。他们还曾通过采集新雪样本的方式来搜寻陆地上的污染物。那时我们并不知道，即使在南极，人造化学品分子也会以气体或尘埃的状态积存起来。

The samples of the three-month-long expedition were brought to this laboratory in Exeter; the majority were found to be contaminated.

在这次历时三个月的考察中所收集到的样本被带到了这间位于英国埃克斯特的实验室中。科学家们发现，大多数样本已被污染。

Dr David Santillo, Exeter University
大卫·桑提罗博士 英国埃克斯特大学

What we're finding is that in almost all of the samples of water we collected, we find tiny pieces of microplastics. Maybe only a few fragments of fibres in every litre of water, but given that this is really the end of the Earth, it's remarkable once again that we are finding microplastics almost wherever we look.

“我们发现，几乎所有被采集的海水样本中都含有少量的微塑料碎片。虽然每升水中可能只有微量的纤维碎屑，但考虑到南极是地球的尽头，所以在所有样本中几乎都找到了微塑料这一事实非常惊人。”

This will only add to the growing calls for something to be done about plastic before more of it reaches the end of the Earth.

该发现只会使这一日益增高的呼声愈演愈烈：那就是我们应该在更多塑料污染蔓延至世界尽头之前有所作为。

词汇

pristine 未被污染的，原始的

microplastics 微塑料

airborne 空气传播的

contaminated 受污染的

你知道吗？

In Antarctica, the sea, rather than the land, supports most creatures such as penguins and seals. It's often warmer than the land, so is a good place to retreat to and warm up to a balmy -2 Celsius!

在南极，是海水而非陆地孕育企鹅和海豹等大多数生物。南极海洋常暖于陆地，所以“高”达零下2摄氏度的海水是动物们避寒和取暖的好去处。

问题答案

A 'manta' is a trawling device – a type of net for dragging through the water to collect small particles such as microplastics.